


H2OVanoss: Love Comes Knocking

by tusslee



Category: Banana Bus Squad, H2OVanoss - Fandom
Genre: M/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-10
Updated: 2016-09-17
Packaged: 2018-08-07 23:44:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 28,003
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7734397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tusslee/pseuds/tusslee
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jonathan moves into the house across the street from Evan, who bakes a lot of pies. Evan makes it his personal goal to befriend his antisocial neighbor and ultimately win him over with cherry pie, expensive wine, and his stubborn personality.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Jonathan was not a people person, plain and simple. He enjoyed his down time, his alone time, and he preferred to keep a low profile. There was nothing wrong with enjoying the company of others, it just wasn’t his favorite past time, so when someone began banging fiercely at his door so soon after moving in, well he wasn’t exactly the happiest man on earth. He frowned to himself and stared at his front door from his kitchen, hoping whoever it was would take the hint and leave well enough alone, but no such luck. The knocks became incessant and he finally gave in, dropping the box he was unpacking unceremoniously on the counter before striding to the door and throwing it open. He didn’t bother to put on a fake smile, rather he stood with his eyebrows raised in question while the man before him composed himself from the sudden shock.

“Can I help you?” Jonathan asked as politely as he could manage through gritted teeth and the man standing on his porch smiled awkwardly at him.

“You just moved in, right? I’m Evan, your neighbor! I thought I’d bring this by,” Evan held out the pie that was still steaming in the cool fall air and Jonathan softened a little. “It’s cherry, dunno if you prefer something different, but.” Evan held his free hand out, “I didn’t catch your name?”

Jonathan looked at it a moment before taking it, “Yes, because I didn’t tell you it.” He mumbled and Evan flushed pink. Jonathan swallowed down the laugh that wanted to force its way out and settled for a rueful smile, “It’s Jonathan. And I like cherry just fine, thank you.” He added as an afterthought and Evan nodded as he handed the pie over. 

“Where’re you from?” Evan asked curiously and flushed again when Jonathan gave him a look, “It’s just, your accent. You don’t sound like you’re from around here.” Evan explained and rocked back on his heels. 

“I’m not. I’m from North Carolina.” Jonathan said and Evan whistled.

“Bit of a ways away from home, eh?” Evan laughed nervously and rubbed at the back of his neck.

“Across the country, yes.” Jonathan confirmed and Evan felt the need to flee. He was usually so good with people, easily making new friends, but Jonathan was dry and made Evan feel inferior and he wasn’t sure he liked the feeling. 

Evan cleared his throat and nodded before taking a step back, “Right. I’ll leave you to unpacking then. Sure you’ve got plenty to do. Pleasure meeting you.” Evan gave a weak smile before turning.

Jonathan stared after him and watched him jog across the street and enter the house across from his own. He closed his door and sighed before returning to his kitchen and setting the pie on his counter. It smelled unbelievably good, even though he wasn’t so keen on eating food made by strangers. He felt somewhat bad for being so short with the man, but he couldn’t bring himself to regret it because he didn’t need him showing up on his doorstep unnecessarily. He was nice, which was nice, but he was strange and Jonathan was attracted to strange things, which often resulted in heartbreak. It was better this way, surely. 

Evan stood in his kitchen with a frown on his face while he tied his apron around his middle, “What I get for being pleasant.” He mumbled to himself and rubbed his hands together before preheating the oven and setting to work on another pie. 

Evan was an exceptionally good cook, he excelled at baking, but would never be satisfied with his own creations. It was a hobby he’d picked up from both his mother and father and something he did when he had a lot on his mind. 

So, his new neighbor was from North Carolina and refused to laugh. Perhaps he couldn’t laugh. Maybe he was an unhappy person. Maybe he didn’t actually want the pie, but felt bad for Evan. The last thought made Evan frown deeper as he rolled out more dough. What was the harm in being polite? He was new to the area and Evan knew no one else would bother to introduce themselves. It was how he was raised, to greet the neighbors and Evan loved meeting new people. He didn’t love being embarrassed, which somehow he managed to do to himself often and Jonathan with looks alone made him feel insecure, for whatever reason. The man was good looking, Evan could admit that. What a waste to be good looking and unfriendly, though. 

Maybe it was just Evan he was unfriendly toward, or perhaps, more logically speaking, Evan caught him at a bad time. He probably should have waited a few days and let the man unpack, but Evan was excited. The house across the street had been empty for months so when Evan spotted the moving trucks, he knew he’d be saying ‘hello’ first chance he got. Regardless if Jonathan wanted company or not, Evan would just have to force him into liking him. He was easy to like, he was funny, he made good food and what better way to someone’s heart than through their stomach? Evan smiled to himself and flicked the flour from his fingers before slipping his pie into the oven. Jonathan couldn’t distance himself forever, especially not from someone as stubborn as Evan.

-

Jonathan stuck his fork back into the pie and took another bite, humming thoughtfully while he chewed. It wasn’t bad. It was quite good if he was being honest, but still the thought of someone else making it freaked him out a little. He could only imagine what Evan’s kitchen looked like. What if he didn’t wash his hands? Jonathan wrinkled his nose then shook his head, surely if the man could bake so well he’d be thorough about it. He took another bite before setting to work again and dragging the last box for the kitchen up from the floor to the counter. This was all silverware. He glanced around the various drawers and settled for the ones nearest the fridge before beginning to organize his array of forks, knives, and spoons. He found himself thinking of Evan and his straightforward behavior. It was admirable from a distance, a bit annoying up close. It was probably just the way he was, Jonathan figured. 

Eventually he’d apologize, but how does one explain politely that they’re uninterested in becoming friends? Jonathan tossed the now empty box beside the others and leaned heavily against the counter while he took another bite of pie. He could be honest, brutally so, but that would only hurt Evan’s feelings. He wasn’t fond of hurting people, but he didn’t want Evan thinking they could catch movies on weekends or watch football games together because Jonathan didn’t even like football and weekends were the worst time to go to the movies. It was always too crowded. 

He wanted friends.

Truly, he did, but his track record was nothing short of pitiful when it came to friendships because Jonathan had a habit of falling in love with his friends. It was an unfortunate thing too because he never told them. He wasn’t willing to suffer the consequences of admitting his feelings so he waited it out until over time he and whoever it was he was infatuated with slowly stopped talking. He did a good job of pushing people away and those he held close were those he cherished and held at arm’s length because he wasn’t willing to let them go or bring them any closer in fear of breaking his own heart. 

It was fucked up and he knew it, yet he didn’t know how to stop it.

He knew that Evan could be a person he fell for easily. He was attractive: that dark hair and dark eyes and dark skin thing was something of a weakness for Jonathan. He also had a minor thing for Asians that he’d never admit aloud. Evan was awkward and Jonathan found that endearing as much as he found it humorous. If they got close, all bets were off and he knew it, which was why he needed to keep him far, far away. It would be easier said than done because the man lived right across the road and Jonathan got the feeling that today wouldn’t be the last day he’d show up on his doorstep.

-

It took Jonathan half a bottle of wine and an entire day before he was slipping his shoes on and jogging across the street to knock on Evan’s door. He’d regret this sooner or later, but right now he needed to be a decent person and thank Evan for that fucking pie because it was gone within an hour. 

Evan wiped his hands on his apron and checked on his cake before calling, “Coming!” He didn’t bother to take his apron off before he pulled his front door open and standing there, bright-eyed and pink-cheeked was the man he’d been thinking about since yesterday. “Uh, evening.” Evan greeted and stepped out onto the porch, “What can I do for you?” He wondered and it was Jonathan’s turn to be awkward. 

“Yesterday… Look I know you were trying to be friendly or whatever and I came across rude, I’m sure of it, but I just don’t make friends easily and I don’t really want to anyway. It’s a long story, but that pie was really good so thanks for that.” Jonathan rambled and wondered if he was tipsier than he thought. 

Evan looked at him, a faint smile on his lips before he moved to head back inside, “Come on in, I’ve got plenty more where that came from.” He assured and Jonathan shook his head.

“No, I really shouldn’t. I just wanted to apologize and thank you is all. I’ll be going now.” He insisted and Evan caught him by the wrist.

“Nonsense, don’t let my experiments go to waste.” Evan dragged him along and Jonathan chided himself for trying to be nice.

“Experiments?” He muttered and Evan laughed as he led them to his kitchen.

“Nothing too horrendous. Just old recipes my mother left behind. She was quite the chef and I aim to perfect what she spent so long creating.” Evan told him and pulled his cake from the oven. “I was just going to start preparing dinner if you’d like to join me? I’d enjoy getting to know you a little better. You seem more talkative now that you’ve got some liquid courage in you.” Evan noted and Jonathan wondered if it was that noticeable. 

“Evan, I appreciate the gesture, but I really shouldn’t stay.” Jonathan fumbled for excuses and Evan turned on him, a frown pulling at his pouty lips.

“And why not?” Evan asked and crossed his arms over his chest.

“Because…” Jonathan began and Evan dropped his arms then took a step toward him. 

“Because you’re a shut in who doesn’t know how to interact with people. Especially funny people who make good food.” Evan assumed and Jonathan scowled at him but soon cracked up while Evan stood waiting, that too-serious look on his face. Jonathan laughed and covered his mouth before the sound could escape fully and Evan relaxed. “Right, you’ll stay and have dinner with me and be sociable.”

Jonathan sighed and gave in, making himself comfortable on a stool as he leaned his elbows on the island, “I’m afraid you’ll find my weakness.” He worried and Evan hummed in thought while he pulled a box of noodles from his pantry.

“If your weakness is good food and even better pie, I’m afraid I’ve already found it and I intend to take full advantage of the information.” Evan joked and Jonathan watched him flit about his kitchen as he cooked dinner.

“Tell me something about you.” Jonathan suggested and Evan leaned against the counter while he stirred the boiling pot of noodles. 

“I’m from Canada, eh.” Evan said and shrugged as he looked back to the stove, “What’d you wanna know?”

“Something interesting.” Jonathan decided and Evan laughed softly more so to himself.

“I’m the least interesting person I know, but let me think. Maybe I can come up with something.” Evan said and racked his brain. He was a simple guy who liked simple things and the weirdest thing about him was probably his interest in cooking, which wasn’t weird per say, just out of the norm for men as far as stereotypes went. 

“It’s interesting that you cook, more interesting that you bake.” Jonathan supplied and Evan shrugged.

“My father was a baker.” He admitted and Jonathan motioned for him to go on, “He owned a small shop where he sold an assortment of breads, cookies, pies, and things of the like. My mother was the one who stayed home and experimented, always adding new spices and mixing things. I was her guinea pig and I developed a taste for the ‘art’ as she called it. I think she wanted a daughter, but settled for a son.” Evan mused and drained the pot. 

Jonathan drummed his fingers idly against the counter and stole a cookie from a plate sitting nearby. “I’d call that interesting if not endearing.” He said and Evan hummed his agreement.

“I suppose. What about you?” He asked and glanced over his shoulder, “What’s interesting about you?” 

“Absolutely nothing.” Jonathan stated firmly and Evan turned to face him while the sauce simmered on the stove. 

“Nothing whatsoever?” He challenged and Jonathan shook his head. “I don’t believe that for one second.”

“Better believe it.” 

“You say you have no interest in making friends, yet you’re leading me to believe you’re this mysterious man who is afraid to get close to people and it’s only making me want to get to know you more. You should really make up your mind, Jonathan.” Evan said and grabbed a cookie for himself. “Needs more chocolate chips.” He murmured as he mixed the sauce into the pot of noodles. 

“I made up my mind the second I opened my door, thank you very much.” Jonathan grumbled and Evan chuckled to himself.

“That right? And what did you settle on? That you’d stay as far away from me as possible, or that you’d allow me to charm you with my wit and excellent cooking?” Evan wondered and Jonathan gaped at his back.

“Excuse you. Your cooking is subpar at best and I decided I wanted nothing to do with you and your godly pie.” 

“See, now you’re being confusing because is my cooking subpar, or is it godly? Honestly, how much did you have to drink before you came over?” Evan wondered as he made them both a plate and slid one to Jonathan. He leaned against the island as he shoved a fork into his spaghetti and grinned at Jonathan.

“Enough.” Jonathan muttered and Evan shook his head as he took a bite. He chewed slowly and decided it was good enough. Jonathan ate slowly, avoiding Evan’s eyes as he did so. He moaned in appreciation and set his fork down, glaring across the table at Evan. “Fine. It’s godly, but you’re an asshole.”

Evan shrugged, “I can’t argue with that.” He smirked and Jonathan rolled his eyes.

“You’re infuriating.” Jonathan said between bites and Evan looked at him.

“I could say the same. I’ll think we’ll get along great.” He decided and Jonathan shook his head as he shoveled food into his mouth.

“Definitely not.” He said around a mouthful.


	2. Chapter 2

Jonathan left with a ‘thank you’ on his lips after dinner because Evan made him want to pull his hair out and he figured if he spent much longer around him he just might start. It seemed like a good idea at the time to apologize and offer some sort of reason for his closed-off demeanor, but he got as far as apologizing then everything took a left turn. Evan didn’t seem to understand that Jonathan absolutely did not want to be friends with him. He took it like a challenge to see if he could do it anyway, like he could win Jonathan over with an assortment of pies and home cooked meals. Jonathan would have to start trying harder, really put his foot down so Evan would get the message because after one simple dinner, he was already allowing himself too close.

Evan counted tonight as a win as he cleaned up the mess he’d made. Jonathan had opened up more and actually smiled, which Evan didn’t think him capable of. It would take some work getting to know the man, but he was willing to annoy him to the brink of insanity if that’s what it took for him to allow Evan to know him. Why it was so important, Evan didn’t know. He just enjoyed a challenge and he had a lot of spare time and spare dough for that matter. He’d let Jonathan have the next few days to himself while he plotted ways to get under his skin and ultimately into his heart. 

There was something intriguing about him that Evan couldn’t put his finger on, but it probably had to do with his eyes that were nearly deep as the sea. They held secrets Evan wanted to know about desperately. He’d work them out of him if he had to, but he wanted more than anything to be someone Jonathan actually enjoyed being around and that in itself was going to be a task. 

Evan spent the rest of the night cleaning to keep his hands busy then when he had nothing left to clean, he worked on editing his latest video. YouTube was something he was excited about, it was new to him and while he felt silly when recording, his fans loved it. It’d taken some time to gain subscribers, but he was to a comfortable point where he no longer had to work at the grocery store bakery because his income from YouTube was enough to support himself and his few bills. It was tight, money was always tight, but it was enough. Evan wondered what Jonathan did in his spare time, if he was going to be looking for work now that he was getting comfortable, or if he worked from home. A million ideas flitted through his mind; perhaps Jonathan was a writer. Writers tended to be anti-social and closed off, or so he’d heard. He wondered idly if Jonathan would be interested in YouTube. The man was funny enough in his own strange way and that was one of the many reasons Evan enjoyed him, wanted to know more about him. He was strange and Evan liked strange things.

The night turned into morning and Evan was yawning while the sun came up so he set his video to render and climbed in bed, brainstorming ideas to make Jonathan like him, but the only thing he could come up with was more cherry pie.

-

Jonathan was an early riser, yet not a morning person. He cursed the birds for pulling him from sleep, but dragged himself from bed anyway. Coffee was the only thing that made him enjoy mornings. He opened his kitchen windows and stood leaning against his counter while the cool morning breeze rolled in. He loved fall and the smell it brought along. These were the types of mornings he found himself wishing he had someone to spend them with. His thoughts went to Evan and he let them linger there while he imagined what it’d be like to wake up to him every morning. The house would permanently smell like pie, or cookies, or cake, or flour and sugar in general, but that was something Jonathan could get used to. That was something he could fall in love with and he hated himself for it. 

He poured himself a second glass of coffee and moved back toward his bedroom to check and make sure his video was rendered for today. It was and it was scheduled to go up in just a few hours so he had the rest of the day to sort out. He still had a decent amount of unpacking to do, but he also wanted to explore. He decided exploring sounded a lot better than unpacking and hurried to shower and dress. 

LA was much bigger than his small home town back in North Carolina, which was nice and also a bit intimidating. The people weren’t as friendly, but that was just fine with Jonathan. It meant he didn’t have to stop and pretend to enjoy idle chitchat when he’d really rather be anywhere else. He walked the sidewalks and ignored the vendors until he spotted sand. It was too cool to swim for him personally, but that didn’t stop others from diving right in. The beach wasn’t very crowded, though, and it was a small one at that. Jonathan enjoyed the sound of water lapping against the shore and the smell of the ocean, but he didn’t stay long, opting for a quick trip to the grocery store to grab necessary items. He’d been ordering in the past couple of days and needed to get back on track with his usual eating habits.

He was happy to be doing something productive and knew later in the day he would need to sit down and record. He had a few games to try out, all horror, which was exciting. YouTube was something he felt he did well when often he felt like he didn’t have much of a purpose. He could be a completely different person online than who he really was and that was the best part, the freedom. No one knew his name, no one knew what he looked like, and no one knew that it was all just an act. Maybe not all of it, but most of it. His laugh was the realest thing about him and while he played borderline insane, he was quite the opposite, rather too sane for his own good. It was fun and he enjoyed it, which he figured was the most important thing about a job if one could call it that. It was more so a hobby that paid well. Regardless, he cherished his subscribers and his own little world he’d created because he was more at home there than he was in his own mind half the time. 

Once home, Jonathan put away the few things he’d gotten and checked his channel to make sure his video posted accordingly and was happy to see that it had and already his fans were loving it. It was a new series and he was hoping for the best because he’d never done something quite like it before. He returned to his kitchen with YouTube on the brain and began working on a simple dinner. His thoughts wandered as he sliced up chicken and he found himself wondering what Evan did for a living. His truck hardly left his driveway so he’d take bets Evan worked from home. But what sort of hobbies did the man have other than flipping dough around? Did he like video games? Did he enjoy movies, or lazy Sundays? Jonathan wanted to know, but at the same time he didn’t.  
It was inevitable and he knew it, which was why he needed to stop those thoughts in their tracks and forget about the Asian across the street entirely. Jonathan jumped when his phone began to ring and nearly sliced his finger open. He washed his hands in record time and caught his phone on the last ring, “Hello?”

“Jon, way to let me know you got settled in!” Luke complained in his ear and Jonathan rolled his eyes.

“I’ve only just finished unpacking the kitchen.” 

“Uh huh, sure. I wanted to call and check up on ya, how’s the house?” Luke wondered and Jonathan looked around his bare kitchen.

“Needs something more.” He admitted and heard Luke laughing on the other end.

“Always does. Go shopping, redecorate. You’ll have a blast with it. I’ll fly out soon as I can, but you know work calls. I won’t keep you, man. Just checkin’ in.” 

“Thanks, Luke. I’ll give you a call later.” Jonathan promised and hung up, dropping his phone back to the counter. 

Luke was his oldest friend and oldest crush. They’d grown up together and Luke had dated Jonathan’s sister years ago, but now Jonathan was states away from his home and everything he knew and he loved it. He missed Luke already, but he didn’t miss the heartache that came with watching your object of affection be affectionate with someone else. He was happy for Luke, of course he was, but these lingering feelings needed to get lost before he seen him again. They were best friends and that’s all they were ever going to be, all Jonathan ever wanted them to be. He didn’t need to screw up a perfectly good friendship with _feelings_ and he wouldn’t. 

He resumed his task of making dinner and pushed Luke, Evan, and every other worrisome thought completely out of his head. 

-

Evan tapped his foot impatiently and glanced toward the clock again. She was late. She was always late. How did she ever get anything done? Finally, his doorbell rang and he nearly jumped out of his skin. He put on a smile and met her on the porch, arms spread wide. “Syd, took you long enough.” He teased and wrapped her small frame up. She patted his back and squeezed him before pulling away and looking at him. 

“You look good. Better than I left you.” She said and Evan rolled his eyes. 

“Well you left me a complete wreck so I’d hope so. Come in, I’ve got your favorite in the oven.” Evan opened the door wider and she slipped her shoes off before heading to the kitchen. 

“Smells like home.” She sighed and hoisted herself up onto the counter. “How’ve you been, Ev? It’s been nearly a year now.” 

Evan nodded and peeked into the oven before leaning against the counter and assessing her. Her hair was longer, darker near the roots and it faded into a soft blonde. Her hazel eyes were as piercing as ever and even without makeup, she was stunning, yet Evan didn’t feel that familiar ache like he used to. “I’m better.” He said honestly and pushed his hands into his pockets. “I’m keeping myself busy.” Sydney nodded and looked around the kitchen.

“Different color. Really suits the place, you’ve still got an eye for that sort of thing. I’m glad to hear you’re well, I’ve been wondering where you disappeared to.” She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and Evan decided that he didn’t miss her, not anymore.  
“Just putting myself back together.” Evan said with a shrug and checked on his pie again. He pulled it from the oven and set it to cool then turned the oven off. “YouTube is really taking off and I’ve been enjoying it. I’ve got a new neighbor who is my latest mission.” He smiled to himself and Sydney hopped down to stick her finger in the pie.

“She cute?” She wondered and Evan laughed.

“ _He’s_ cute.” He admitted and she glanced sideways at him. 

“Interesting.” She murmured and stuck her finger in her mouth, humming happily around it. “Amazing as ever.” She complimented and cut herself a piece, not patient enough to let it cool. 

“He’s… different.” Evan frowned and stuck a fork in his pie, “I don’t know how to explain it.” 

“You’ve got a thing for different.” Sydney recalled and Evan hummed his agreement. “You’ll have no trouble getting under his skin. It’s like your superpower. Just put on those puppy dog eyes you wear so well and hand him a plate of cookies, or a pie and he’ll be yours. Worked on me.” She teased and Evan shook his head, faint blush coloring his cheeks.

“I don’t think he’s interested and we hardly know each other. He doesn’t like people in general and especially not me, though he thinks my food is excellent.” 

“Evan, what did I always tell you? The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach. You’re stubborn enough that I bet it won’t take six months for you to win him over.” Sydney insisted and ate happily.

Evan took a bite then dropped his fork in the sink before grabbing his apron, “I guess I’ve got a lot of baking to do then, eh?” He grinned at her and she clapped her hands together. 

“Like old times?” She asked hopefully and Evan nodded.

“Like old times.”

Sydney hunted for her favorite CD and slid it into the player attached under one of the cupboards then turned the volume up. She grabbed one of Evan’s spare aprons and tied it around herself then washed her hands before sidling up beside Evan and pushing he sleeves to her elbows. “Ready to go, boss.” She smiled up at him and he elbowed her before handing her the tinfoil.

They spent the rest of the evening baking cookies and their favorite pies until the house smelled too sweet and they were both covered in flour. Sydney sat on the counter again and broke apart one of their accidental massive cookies. “Wine,” she said and Evan looked at her, “wine is a great way to get him talking.”

“I don’t even like wine.” Evan reminded and she wagged her finger at him.

“You don’t like cheap wine. Don’t go spending like seven dollars on wine, try more like twenty and make something good for dinner then break out the wine. It’ll get him loose and he’ll start talking more.” She said assuredly. 

“And if he doesn’t like the wine?” He wondered and she pursed her lips in thought.

“He’ll drink it anyway because it’s the polite thing to do.” 

“You’re so sure about this.” Evan shook his head and she grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him.

“Because I know people and I especially know men. Take it slow, don’t pressure him and for fucks sake, don’t be an asshole.” 

Evan smiled sheepishly, “Too late for that last bit.”

Sydney rolled her eyes and let him go then grabbed her jacket from the back of a chair, “You’re hopeless. I’ll give you a call later this week and see how things are going. Stay in touch.”

“I’ll walk you out.” Evan followed her to the front door and hugged her tightly, secretly happy he no longer felt the need to drag her back inside. “You were right.” He murmured and she laughed as she pulled away and patted his chest. 

“I always am.” She reminded and Evan waved her off.


	3. Chapter 3

Jonathan stood in his living room with his arms crossed over his chest and a million and one questions running through his head. 

Who the hell was she?

What business of his was it anyway? 

He paced and pulled at his hair before stopping and shaking his head. He was being ridiculous. He and Evan weren’t even friends let alone an item, but the jealously still simmered hotly. “I’m an idiot.” He said aloud and nodded. Perhaps he wasn’t as sane as he liked to think himself. 

Jonathan grabbed his wine and dragged his feet back to his room and sat in front of his computer. He had things to do yet, meaning he was in for a long night. He didn’t bother with a glass, drinking straight from the half-empty bottle as he started up a game and turned on his recording equipment.

-

Evan spent the next day editing until a little after three in the afternoon. He was tired, not having slept well, but he was going to take Sydney’s advice and go find some good wine. He had no idea what he was looking for though and no one at the store seemed to be able to help him so he grabbed an expensive bottle that looked pretty and called it good. He decided Chicken Alfredo would suffice as far as dinner was concerned and he crossed his fingers that Jonathan would accept his invite. He was hard to say no to when he wanted to be so he’d use that to his advantage when the time came.

It was nearly six by the time he finished dinner and it turned out better than usual, which was a plus. He grabbed his wine from the fridge and slipped his shoes and a jacket on before strolling across the street and knocking on Jonathan’s door.

Jonathan answered with a nearly empty wine bottle already in his hand and pink cheeks. Evan smiled and held up his own bottle, “Looks like you started without me.” He joked and Jonathan smiled despite himself.

“What’d you want, Evan?”

“You to join me for dinner.” 

“Pass.”

“Why?” Evan demanded and Jonathan shrugged, not feeling like thinking up an excuse.

“Fine, dinner will come to you then.” Evan decided and turned to leave.

Jonathan floundered, “Wait! No, my house is a mess. Fine, fine, I’m coming!” He called after him and hurried to pull his shoes on before following Evan across the road, wine bottle long forgotten on the floor in his hallway.

Evan led them inside and toed his shoes off before placing his bottle on the counter with dinner already dished out and glasses set. Jonathan flushed and ran a nervous hand through his hair. “Weren’t gonna take no for an answer.” 

“No, wasn’t planning on it.” Evan smiled and pulled a seat out for Jonathan before sitting himself down and opening the wine. 

“Smells good.” Jonathan complimented and Evan thanked him as he poured them each a glass. “What’s your angle?” Jonathan wondered and Evan looked at him as he pushed his food around his plate.

“No angle. I just wanna feed you.” Evan shrugged innocently and sipped at his wine. Even if it was expensive, he still didn’t like it all that much. Jonathan ducked his head and ate quietly while Evan celebrated internally. 

“You’re stubborn. I have to give you credit.” Jonathan finally spoke up after his food was gone and he was on his second glass of wine. 

“I get what I want.” Evan said simply and Jonathan eyed him.

“And what is it that you want?” He wondered and Evan smirked.

“You,” Jonathan nearly choked and Evan’s grin widened, “to be my friend.”

Jonathan leaned back in his seat and scrubbed a hand over his face before downing the rest of his wine. “Why are you so adamant about that?” He asked exasperatedly.

“Because when you tell a child they can’t have something they only want it more. You’re different and I want to know more about you and the fact that you’re so averse to letting me know you only makes me that much more interested. I’m trying to be a good neighbor here, Jonathan. Work with me.” Evan pleaded and Jonathan crossed his arms over his chest.

“Fine, on the condition you answer my questions too.” 

“Deal. Why’d you move across the country?” Evan asked and Jonathan rubbed at his tired eyes.

“Because I needed a change of scenery.”

“Moving towns wasn’t enough?” 

Jonathan dropped his hands to his lap and stared at Evan across the table, “I need more wine for this.” He mumbled and grabbed the bottle then got to his feet and searched for Evan’s living room. He made himself comfortable on the couch and took a long pull straight from the bottle. “I moved because I felt like I was at a dead end in my small town and I needed to start over.” Jonathan said honestly and Evan sat on the arm of a chair with his glass in his hand.

“What do you do for work?” Evan asked and Jonathan smiled to himself.

“I play video games.”

“You do?” Evan asked excitedly and Jonathan nodded.

“YouTube.” He clarified and Evan grinned at him.

“Me too!”

Jonathan drummed his fingers against the bottle and thought to himself for a moment.

“What kind of games do you play?” Evan wondered and Jonathan shrugged.

“Horror usually.”

“Not multiplayer?” 

“Not typically. Don’t have many people to play with.” Jonathan admitted and Evan twisted the stem of his glass in his fingers.

“You could play with me and my friends.” He suggested and Jonathan shook his head.

“I don’t think so. My turn, who was that girl you had over yesterday?” Jonathan asked, not really meaning to ask because now Evan was looking baffled. 

“Uh, an ex. Sydney.” Evan said and his brows furrowed, “Did you stop by or something?”

Jonathan shrugged, “I was outside when she got here. I was just wondering. So, why’d you break up?”

Evan chuckled, “Curious about my love life? Well, she was my high school sweetheart and shortly after we graduated we moved in together. We were together for five years and things were good, but they weren’t great. I was settling and she knew that so she sat me down and we had a talk. She told me I needed to make myself happy and I didn’t want to let her go because she was all I really had, but she left and I worked on finding myself. I realized some things and I needed to thank her for letting me go so I invited her over and we baked together. It was a thing we used to do.” Evan recalled fondly and rubbed the back of his neck, “In short, not everything works out the way you planned. How about your love life?” Evan asked and Jonathan frowned.

“I’m in love with my best friend. Well, I was. I haven’t seen him in a couple of months so I’m hoping those feelings have rid themselves. It’s complicated.” Jonathan shook his head and raised the bottle to his lips once more.

“So am I wrong to assume he’s part of the reason you moved?” Evan wondered and Jonathan smiled faintly.

“No, you’d be correct. I have a habit of falling for the wrong people.” He admitted.

“Do you like movies?” Evan asked and Jonathan’s eyes lit up.

“Love them.”

“Why don’t you find something to watch and I’ll grab us something sweet.” Evan suggested and tossed Jonathan the remote as he headed to the kitchen and dished them both up a slice of cherry pie. “So, do you actually like cherry, or were you just saying that to be nice?” Evan asked as he took a seat beside Jonathan and Jonathan thanked him as he took the plate.

“It’s my favorite, actually.” Jonathan admitted and Evan thanked his luck.

Jonathan settled for a recent action movie that just stopped showing in theaters and ate his pie while the trailers rolled. He really enjoyed this despite what he wanted to tell himself and he knew that getting closer to Evan would ultimately lead to heartbreak, but he couldn’t bring himself to say no, especially not with so much alcohol in his system. Perhaps they could simply be just friends and Jonathan would meet someone who’d sweep him off his feet one day and he wouldn’t have to worry about secretly pining over his friends, but that was all wishful thinking. Evan was his type of person and already he could feel the pull that was developing between them. 

The movie was good, plenty of explosions to keep Jonathan entertained, but the pie was better and he told Evan this. Evan laughed and took their plates to the sink then sunk to the couch beside Jonathan again. “We’re not watching football together.” Jonathan stated firmly and Evan looked over at him.

“Okay?”

“I don’t like sports, especially not football and movie theaters are too crowded on weekends so we’re not doing that either.” Jonathan said and Evan was waiting for the explanation that never came. 

“I don’t think any movies are playing this late anyway.” Evan said and checked his watch.

“I’m just telling you beforehand because if we’re going to be friends you need to know these things.” Jonathan said and handed Evan the empty bottle. Evan grinned and sat up.

“So, we’re friends then?” He asked hopefully and Jonathan let out a long sigh.

“We’re friends.” He agreed, “Be up by seven.” Jonathan said as he got to his feet and wobbled toward the front door.

“What for?” Evan asked, following behind him.

“We’re going running. All that pie, you’re going to make me fat.” Jonathan mumbled and ran a hand over his flat stomach.

“And why do I have to come along?” Evan asked, brow raised in question.

“Because, _friend_ , we suffer together. You won’t be twenty-four and hot forever, y’know, especially with all those fucking pies.” Jonathan grumbled as he bent down to get his shoes on, nearly falling over.

“How’d you know how old I am?” 

“Lucky guess. Alcohol makes me smarter.” Jonathan assured and patted Evan’s chest before he opened the door. “Seven o’clock.” He reminded and waved over his shoulder as he walked back across the street to his house.

Evan closed the door after making sure Jonathan got in okay and smiled stupidly to himself. He was going to have to get Jonathan drunk more often. 

-

Jonathan was up and moving by six am with no hangover to speak of. He was regretting his decision to go running so early, but early was the best time to run and it was going to be fun with Evan because Evan didn’t seem too excited about the prospect of running in general. He was a fit guy, but that didn’t mean he ran. Jonathan changed into sweats then grabbed a bottle of water before jogging across the street and pounding on Evan’s door. 

Evan dragged his tired body to his front door and pulled it open, scowling when he seen Jonathan, bright-eyed and ready to go. “It’s not seven.” He complained and Jonathan let himself into the house.

“I said _by_ seven. Let’s get moving.” Jonathan clapped his hands together and Evan downed the rest of his coffee before disappearing to change. He returned with a sweatshirt in hand and sighed.

“I’m beginning to think befriending you was a bad idea.” He muttered and Jonathan laughed as he led them outside.

“It was. Now let’s go, sleeping beauty.” 

Evan proved more than capable of keeping up, but he bitched and moaned the whole time about why they couldn’t run later in the day. Jonathan ignored him and kept an even pace with Evan beside him. The streets became busy quickly with the start of the day and they made their way through a small park then looped around a lake before heading back toward their homes. 

“I think you should take me up on my offer.” Evan said when they finally returned home and were sitting on his porch stairs.

“What offer?”

“Play with my friends and me. It’ll be fun. You don’t even have to record if you don’t want to, but it might be something different for a change.” Evan said and Jonathan hummed while he sucked down the rest of his water.

“I’ll think about it.” He promised and stood, “Catch you later though. I’ve got a phone call to make and editing to do.” He crossed the street before Evan could object and Evan sighed as he headed back into his house.

“One thing at a time.” He reminded himself and decided on a shower before editing what little footage he had left from the last recording session.


	4. Chapter 4

“Luke, hey. How’s work been?” Jonathan asked as he laid sprawled on his bed in nothing but a towel from his shower and his phone to his ear. 

“Same as always. I’ve got vacation time coming up here next month though, so I’ll be flyin’ my ass out there. How’s the house?” Luke asked and Jonathan glanced around at his bare walls.

“Still needs decorating. I’ve been busy between catching up on videos and my ridiculous neighbor.” 

Luke laughed, “That good, huh?”

“He’s stubborn as you and he’s trying to fatten me with pie.” Jonathan whined and Luke sighed.

“Missin’ you lately, Jonathan. It sucks not havin’ you round here.” 

“I’m sorry…” Jonathan searched for the right words, but came up empty handed.

“No, no, don’t be. I’ll see you soon. Tell me more bout your neighbor, is he hot?” Luke asked and Jonathan laughed and shook his head to himself.

“Why does that matter?” He wondered and Luke scoffed.

“Uh, because if he’s hot and bakes you fuckin’ pie I’d say marry his ass.” Luke teased.

“Even if he’s hot, we’re just friends. Just recently becoming friends.” 

“Ah, Johnny’s lettin’ someone close. He must be fine as hell.” 

“Shut up.” Jonathan grumbled and Luke chuckled.

“I’m joking. Relax. I’m glad you’re gettin’ comfortable and I’m even more glad that you’re making friends. You don’t let enough people in your life, Jay.” Luke worried and Jonathan ran a hand through his damp hair.

“I’m working on it.” He assured.

“Good. Shoot me a text tomorrow and maybe we’ll play some Siege.” Luke said and Jonathan agreed, only catching him to tell him about Evan’s offer to play with his friends. “Can’t hurt,” Luke reasoned, “might meet some cool people and have some fun. Give it a try and let me know how it goes. Love you, brother.” The usual pang that accompanied those words never came and Jonathan relished the freeing feeling. 

A succession of knocks pulled him from his brooding and sent him scrambling for a pair of pants. He settled for pajamas and threw his door open, shivering when the cool air met his bare skin. “Evan?” He asked and rubbed his hands against his arms. “What’s up?” 

Evan tried not to stare and failed, but swallowed around the lump in his throat and pulled his phone from his pocket. “I uh, never got your number.” He said shyly and Jonathan gave it to him before inviting him inside so he could close the door. “Did you think about it?” 

“Bout what? Oh, your friends. Yeah, yeah. Sure, I’ll give it a go, but fair warning if they’re dicks I’m dishing it right back.” Jonathan said and Evan rolled his eyes.

“They won’t be mean, they’re not like that and if they are it’s all fun and games.” Evan promised and Jonathan shrugged.

“Text me so I have your number. Did you need anything else?” 

Evan shook his head and glanced down to Jonathan’s bare chest again before he cleared his throat and turned around, “No, that’s all. I’ll talk to you tomorrow then.” He waved over his shoulder, not daring to look back as he crossed the street. 

Jonathan smiled to himself and returned back to his room, settling in for another solo recording session. 

-

Jonathan was nervous for obvious reasons. He wasn’t good with new people and he didn’t know how to go about making friends with Evan’s friends, yet here he was. He waited while Evan called them up and one by one they joined the call, greeting Evan excitedly and taking no notice of Jonathan until Evan cleared his throat and mentioned that he’d brought someone along today. Tyler was the first to ask and Evan fumbled for Jonathan’s name, not sure which to give him until Jonathan decided it’d be better if they didn’t know.

“H2O Delirious, or just Delirious.” Jonathan introduced himself and he received a chorus of ‘hellos’ from the several people in the call. Once they got into a game, everyone in their respective player models, Evan went around and introduced them.

“This is Tyler, also known as Wildcat. Mini Ladd, or Craig. Brock, MooSnuckle, or Moo. Annnd Lui. The other guys couldn’t make it, but there’s a few more we play with on occasion, Nogla, Marcel, Droidd, Brian. Anyway, don’t worry about names. You’ll get the hang of it as we play, now who’s up for some death run?!” Evan asked excitedly and the game carried on with Jonathan following behind quietly. He felt awkward and a bit out of place, but Evan and his friends were funny, which he enjoyed. 

Lui stuck close to him and explained what was going on in a childish voice that Jonathan wasn’t sure was his own or not and he didn’t really want to ask. He appreciated the gesture, though, and none of them were mean to him, only each other and he understood what Evan meant when he said it was all fun and games. They harassed each other ceaselessly and it was quite entertaining. They ran well into the night and Jonathan was giggling right along with them after long enough, growing comfortable with the easy gameplay and endless jokes. It was late, though, so Jonathan thanked them for having him and he was invited back anytime. His bed was calling him after a long day and he’d barely gotten comfortable when his phone vibrated. He reached for it and squinted against the harsh light, reading Evan’s name on his screen.

_Thanks for today. They loved you, even if you were a bit quiet. Don’t be shy next time. We don’t bite._

Jonathan smiled to himself and thumbed a quick reply:

_I had fun. Goodnight, Evan._

He didn’t wait to see if he got a response before he muted his phone and rolled over.

-

It was nearly Halloween and Jonathan was practically drooling over the props at the recently opened Halloween store. He had no one to go all out with this year, which wasn’t going to stop him from going all out, but it did put a little bit of a damper on his enthusiasm. 

“Fancy meeting you here.” 

Jonathan very nearly jumped out of his skin and clutched at his chest as he spun around to face Evan who was grinning mischievously. “You almost gave me a heart attack.” Jonathan complained and Evan held up a tiny skeleton.

“Boo.” 

“Oh, fuck off.” Jonathan batted it away and moved along the aisle of endless costumes, “What’re you doin’ here?” Jonathan wondered and poked at the clown masks.

“Same as you I bet. Drooling over decorations and costumes. Have a theme in mind for this year?” Evan asked and grabbed an owl mask, pulling it over his head and giggling at himself in the mirror.

Jonathan shook his head and flicked the owl’s beak, “I was thinking clowns, but like, scary, murdery clowns.”

“The best kind.” Evan agreed.

“I usually go all out with Luke.” Jonathan said and grabbed up a pair of socks with tiny Jason’s all over them. “It’ll be lonely without him this year.”

“Luke, best friend you’re in love with, Luke?” Evan wondered and grabbed a plastic machete, “Sick.” He murmured under his breath and looked back at Jonathan, “We could go all out this year, you and me.” He suggested.

“Best friend I’m no longer in love with, Luke.” Jonathan said proudly and Evan elbowed him. “I heard you. What’d you have in mind?” He raised a brow and Evan pursed his lips in thought. 

“We could do rapey clowns, sure, but if we did it together our houses would be sick. Best decorations on the block and we could leave ‘em up till Christmas. We could freak all the kiddies out OR, we could have a party.” Evan said and pretended to stab Jonathan.

Jonathan made a choking sound and held the knife under his armpit, “I like the way you think, owl boy. Take that dumbass mask off now and help me pick out a costume. You gonna invite your friends if we have a party?” Jonathan wondered.

Evan shrugged and tossed his owl mask back along with the others before browsing the various clown costumes. “Could. Depends on if you want a big production or just a small thing. Parties tend to get out of hand pretty quickly if you’ve got the wrong people and I don’t need to be scaring you off right when you’re starting to get comfortable.” Evan teased and Jonathan rolled his eyes. “You know we could probably make better costumes than we can buy.” Evan said and spun a cheap clown mask around on his finger. “I’m wicked with face paint.”

“That so?” Jonathan laughed and snatched the mask from his finger, putting it back where it belonged. “While I’m all for homemade horrors, I want to scare the pants off some little ones and their chaperones so I’m thinking a lot of fake blood, spider webs, and creepy clowns.” Jonathan said and grabbed a small basket to start filling. 

“Right behind you, boss.” Evan assured and snatched up the mask he’d been playing with. 

They loaded their baskets with fake blood, webbing, and an array of costumes and masks because they could always reuse them later. By the time they got home, the sun was setting and Jonathan was eager to try out the strobe light he’d gotten and overjoyed to see how well it lit his porch. “How’re you on videos?” Jonathan asked and Evan grinned at him.

“All caught up till tomorrow.” 

“Wonderful that means you can help me decorate tonight.” Jonathan grabbed one of the masks and pulled it over Evan’s head. “Give me a creepy laugh.” He encouraged and Evan giggled. “That was the furthest thing from creepy. You’re letting me down already. Take your socks off.” Jonathan commanded and grabbed a couple bottles of fake blood then a paper plate and went back outside. Evan followed curiously and watched Jonathan pour blood onto the plate then set it on the porch. “Step in it then run around the porch.”

“What if it doesn’t come off?” Evan asked and put a foot in the blood.

“Then you’ll have red feet.” Jonathan said and Evan laughed as he dipped his other foot.

“I meant your porch.” He clarified and Jonathan shrugged.

“Then I’m spooky year round.” He decided and dipped his hands in it then pressed them to his door.

They spent the rest of the night leaving bloody footprints and handprints all over the front of Jonathan’s house then stretched spider web all over the place. Evan flicked the little bit of blood that was leftover on the plate into the web and Jonathan nodded in approval.

“Looks good.” He mused and Evan smeared his fingers across Jonathan’s face.

“Looks better.” Evan stifled a laugh while Jonathan glared at him. 

“Go home, dickhead.” Jonathan shoed him away and Evan smiled to himself as he walked across the street.

“My house tomorrow night!” He called and Jonathan gave him a thumbs up before disappearing inside.


	5. Chapter 5

Jonathan was on Evan’s doorstep by six the following evening and he had an armful of spooky things to use. He knocked and waited impatiently for Evan to answer the door, but a woman greeted him, the same one who he’d seen at Evan’s house before, and he bristled. She smiled brightly at him, “You must be Jonathan. Oh, don’t worry. I’m not staying long.” She promised and waved him inside. “Evan, your neighbor is here!” She called and Evan came wandering into the hallway from the kitchen with flour covered hands. He smiled at Jonathan and appraised the mess of things he had in his arms.

“Right on time. Give me two seconds to wash my hands.” He said and disappeared back into the kitchen, leaving Jonathan alone with Sydney.

“So did he use the wine? What kind of pie? He got me with blueberry, but that’s only because it’s a personal favorite. Is that blood on your face?” She asked and moved closer.

Jonathan flushed and took a step back, “It’s fake. Evan and I were decorating yesterday and he got some on my face. Turns out it doesn’t wash off very well. What do you mean about the wine?” He wondered and found a place to drop his things.

“Oh, he mentioned he was having a hell of a time getting you to warm up to him so I told him to go find some decent wine and cook for you. What better way to someone’s heart than,”

“Through their stomach. Yeah.” Jonathan cut her off and looked her over. She was gorgeous and Jonathan didn’t understand why she was here again. Evan had said they didn’t work out, but never specified why. 

“He’s just finished a pumpkin pie, excellent for the season. I think he had a cherry one sitting out too.” She winked and Jonathan felt his cheeks burning. “Evan, I’m going!” She called and Evan hurried back into the room with a rag in his hand and his apron hanging half off. “I just wanted to drop that off for you.”

“Thanks, Syd. We’ll talk soon.” Evan promised as he opened the door for her.

“We better.” She teased as she headed out and she waved to Jonathan over her shoulder. 

Evan closed the door and tossed the rag into the laundry room before pulling his apron the rest of the way off. He clapped his hands together and grinned crookedly at Jonathan, “So, decorations. Where do we start?” 

Jonathan shook his irritation off and ignored the bit of flour that was in Evan’s hair while he showed Evan what he brought, “I was thinking just similar to my house. We can get more stuff next time we go out. If we have a party, though, I was thinking your place. Mine’s pretty bare and not so easy on the eyes.” Jonathan explained and dug his nails into his palm to keep himself from reaching for Evan’s hair.

“Sounds good. Still not sure about the party?” Evan asked and Jonathan shrugged. “Right, we’ll figure it out. So, I still have red feet.” He said as he pulled his socks off and Jonathan held up his hands.

“I have red hands.”

“Should we make it even, or stick to one?” Evan asked and grabbed a bottle of fake blood.

“Might as well make it even.” Jonathan said and toed out of his shoes and socks before following Evan out onto the porch.

By midnight the front of Evan’s house was looking ten times spookier and now both their hands and feet were stained red. Jonathan sat on Evan’s counter with a plate of pie in his lap and a small bundle of spider web stretched between his fingers. “My mom was insane with this stuff. She could stretch the tiniest piece for miles. We always had a blast on Halloween.” He recalled fondly and Evan watched him eat thoughtfully. 

“You don’t see her anymore?” He wondered and Jonathan swallowed.

“She died a few years back. Cancer.” Jonathan mumbled and Evan wished he never asked. He wrung his fingers together and opened his mouth to say something, but what could he say? “Don’t worry about it. You didn’t know.” Jonathan smiled weakly and Evan moved to stand beside him. 

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bring it up.” Evan apologized and dropped a comforting hand to Jonathan’s knee.

“I brought it up, only right for you to ask questions.” Jonathan assured and finally brushed his fingers through Evan’s hair, making Evan look questioningly at him.

“You’ve had flour in your hair since earlier.” Jonathan explained with pink cheeks and Evan squeezed his knee before moving to grab himself a slice of pie. Jonathan cleared his throat and dropped his ball of spider web. “So, why pies?” 

Evan grabbed the whipped cream from his fridge and loaded his pie down with it before hopping up on the counter beside Jonathan. “Because my dad was a baker, but my mom was an artist. He got paid for what he made and he rarely cooked at home, only brought home the things that never sold at work. Mom was the one who slaved in the kitchen and when I say slaved, I mean she danced to her favorite songs and baked godly pies while I watched. Her favorite place in the whole house was the kitchen and she always had flour in her hair. She started forgetting her favorite recipes and I couldn’t let them fade from memory so I saved them all, wrote down what she remembered before it got bad and set my mind to perfecting them for her.” Evan explained and took a bite of his pie, “I lost her last year and now I remember her best when I’m baking.” 

Jonathan blinked his tears away and leaned into Evan, setting his plate aside. “I’m sorry.” He murmured and Evan bumped him gently with his shoulder.

“Me too. It’s life though. She didn’t really know me towards the end. I’d bring her favorite pie with me and she’d just look at me as if I was a stranger and I think that was a lot harder to deal with than losing her. She stopped feeling like my mother, more like someone I didn’t know and that’s not how I want to remember her. I want to remember her smelling like sugar and dancing in the kitchen with flour in her hair. So I bake pies.” Evan said with a warm smile and held his fork out for Jonathan. 

“I don’t like pumpkin.” Jonathan said apologetically and Evan frowned.

“For me?” He stuck out his bottom lip and Jonathan rolled his eyes and took the offered bite, humming thoughtfully around it. 

“Alright, not bad.” He decided and Evan grinned at him. “Don’t let it go to your head.” 

“Never.” Evan promised and took both their plates when they were empty. “Do you wanna watch a movie?” 

Jonathan chewed his bottom lip and shook his head, “No, I need to make sure my stuff is ready to go and I’ve got a lot of footage that needs editing still. Tomorrow maybe?” He offered and Evan hid the disappointment he felt.

“Right, sure. I’ll walk you out then.” 

Jonathan thanked Evan before he jogged across the street and disappeared into his dark house. Evan lingered in the doorway and frowned to himself until the cold seeped into his skin and forced him further into his warm home. He returned to his kitchen and pulled open his junk drawer, grabbing the ring he’d dropped on top in a moment of panic. It was still as beautiful as he remembered and he could still see it plain as day on his mother’s slim finger. He’d lost it in the move of Sydney’s stuff and Sydney had found it several weeks back along with her scrapbooks and returned it rightfully to Evan who was overjoyed to see it. 

It was a simple silver ring set with a small opal that caught the light and sent tiny rainbows scattering. He loved it and he loved the thought of giving it to someone he cared about. It was going to be Sydney’s at one point, before they’d discussed their relationship. Sydney knew Evan inside and out, probably better than he knew himself because she’d noticed things about him he didn’t even know himself. Like how long his eyes lingered on an attractive man. He’d denied it, of course, but when they sat down and really talked about it Evan admitted his questions, his interest in men and Sydney had smiled sadly and told him that she didn’t want him settling. So, they’d went their separate ways and Evan was thankful for that because it allowed him time to find himself and accept his sexuality and now his newfound attraction to his pretty neighbor who was a mystery wrapped in a neat little box. 

Evan was more than content with their friendship, but he couldn’t deny the draw he felt toward the man and he’d be lying if he said he didn’t hope for something more, but he wasn’t going to push his luck. He’d just need to bake more pies and find some good wine.

-

Jonathan sat watching reruns of old horror movies in his living room while he thumbed his phone, unsure of whether he wanted to send the text he’d prepared or not. A party was bound to be fun, especially with Evan and his friends, but Jonathan worried about the prospect of getting drunk around somewhat strangers and slipping up and admitting his attraction to his friend. He’d just have to stay away from the booze, surely one night couldn’t hurt. He hit send and bounced his leg nervously as he waited for a reply.

_Let’s have a party._

He’d been dancing around the idea long enough, it was finally time to make up his mind and live a little. He’d be fine with Evan by his side and he’d have fun scaring the shit out of a bunch of munchkins. Halloween was his favorite holiday for a reason. His phone vibrated and he swallowed hard before checking the message.

_Yes! It’s going to be sick, wait and see. Invite Luke and anyone else you want. I’ll let you know who all to plan on showing. Btw, movie tonight. Be here @ 9 plz n thnks._

Jonathan sighed and sent back an affirmative before calling up his best friend, “Luke, take Halloween weekend off and fly your ass out here. We’re having a party.”

-

Jonathan knocked on Evan’s door at nine sharp and smiled when Evan yanked the door open, popcorn bag in hand. “Punctual as usual.” Evan greeted and let Jonathan in before following him toward the living room. “I was thinking a horror marathon.” He said and stood to appraise the massive collection of movies he had.

Jonathan stood beside him and hummed in thought before grabbing the first Friday the 13th movie. “This’ll do.” He said with a grin and Evan snatched it out of his hand.

“Sit your happy ass down and prepare for the spooks.” Evan said as he handed Jonathan the bag of popcorn and moved to put the disc in. 

Jonathan laughed, “I’ve seen these movies so many times I can probably quote them line by line.” He admitted and Evan glanced over his shoulder at him.

“Please don’t do that, it ruins the movie.”

“I’m a much better narrator.” Jonathan insisted and Evan rolled his eyes as he flipped the lights off and sat in the space beside Jonathan.

“While I don’t doubt that, I still would rather you keep your trap shut while the movies on so I can scare you.”

“Scare me?” Jonathan asked incredulously. “You have no idea who you’re talking to. Master of horror, right here.” He said and Evan stole a handful of popcorn.

“Sure, master of whores, whatever title suits you. Now hush, movies starting.” Evan shushed Jonathan’s attempt at arguing and settled down with his feet propped up on his coffee table.

Evan tried several times to scare Jonathan, each time he was rewarded with a playful smack and a face-full of popcorn. The man was ready for every one of Evan’s attacks and finally Evan gave up after they began the third movie. Jonathan fell asleep toward the end of the third movie and Evan didn’t have the heart to wake him up, so he turned the TV off and draped a blanket over him before he retired to his room and called it a night.

-

Jonathan sat cross-legged on Evan’s counter while Evan stood in front of him and worked on painting his face. “Of all the costumes and masks we got, you settle for the simplest one.” Evan murmured and Jonathan blinked.

“I like it, like an assortment of my favorite things.” He said and Evan hushed him.

“Quit talking, you’ll ruin the makeup. Part your lips.” Evan said and brushed the red paint around Jonathan’s mouth then painted his lips. “We’re going to have a busy night. Trick or treating starts at six and the guys are going to be here around eight.” Evan reminded and Jonathan nodded faintly. “I don’t know if they’re dressing up, well I know for sure Tyler and Lui are and they told me to fuck off with our theme, but at least they’re dressing up, right?” Evan asked and Jonathan shrugged. “I’ve got snacks and booze in the fridge. Sure you’re not drinking tonight? Might relax you a little. When’s Luke supposed to be here?” Evan asked as he pulled away and grabbed a different sponge to finish Jonathan’s eyes.

“I’m sure. I don’t need to make a fool of myself in front of your friends. He’ll be here around nine. Fashionably late.” Jonathan said and Evan nodded before he set to work on Jonathan’s makeup again. 

“Well, you’re gonna look cooler than me.” Evan said and wiped his hands off on a towel when he finished painting the circles around Jonathan’s eyes. 

“I always look cooler than you.” Jonathan reminded and Evan elbowed him after he hopped down from the counter. “Hurry up and get changed, it’s ten to six.” Jonathan ushered Evan toward his room and took the bathroom to change into his costume that was simple if not startling. Ripped up jeans and his old hoodie that he’d spattered with fake blood. He grabbed his hockey mask and slipped it over his face then appraised himself in the mirror. “Not half bad.” He mumbled to himself and jumped when he heard someone knocking at the front door. “Evan!” He called and listened as Evan hurried to answer the door. A chorus of small shouts followed Evan’s ‘boo!’ and Jonathan snickered to himself. 

So it began.

Trick or treating only lasted an hour and a half and they took turns throwing the door open and spooking the children. They got their fair share of unimpressed teenagers, but Jonathan made sure to give them the shitty candy in return for their attitude. The sun soon set and the kids disappeared from the street then while Evan and Jonathan were munching on the remaining candy, the doorbell rang. Evan grabbed his mask and pulled it back on before flicking the lights off and throwing the door open. Tyler jumped backward and nearly knocked Craig down the stairs then immediately began cursing Evan out. Evan ignored him and stepped aside to let them in. It continued like that until nearly all their expected guests were present and the music was blaring through the house. 

Jonathan wandered around anxiously, not content with sitting in one particular spot because everyone wanted to talk to him and it was becoming too much. Evan was busy entertaining his guests and Jonathan didn’t want to get in the way, so he hung back and tried to blend into the wall until he got a message that said Luke had finally arrived. He hurried to drag him inside and did a half ass job of introducing him to everyone before he was pulling him aside and slipping his mask off. His paint was beginning to run and Luke wiped if from his jaw before he asked what the problem was.

“This was a bad idea. I’m losing my mind.” Jonathan murmured and Luke took him by the shoulders.

“Relax, Jay. There’s nothing wrong. You’re workin’ yourself up over nothin’. Look at everyone, they’re havin’ fun and laughing at each other. Have a drink, settle down and just hang by me until you’re comfortable.” Luke said and squeezed Jonathan’s shoulders.

“I don’t wanna drink, Luke. You know I’m an idiot when I have too much.” Jonathan reminded and Luke rolled his eyes.

“I didn’t say clean the house out. Have a drink and loosen up. It’s a party, not a damn meet and greet. These guys aren’t gonna judge you.” Luke promised and Jonathan let him drag him to the kitchen where he mixed him a drink and grabbed a piece of pumpkin pie for himself. “Your makeup looks hella sick, by the way.” Luke commented and Jonathan flushed.

“Evan did it.” He admitted and Luke grinned knowingly at him. 

“Speaking of Evan,” Luke began and paused when Evan wandered into the kitchen.

“Oh, hey. You must be Luke, sorry, been trying to keep up with the boys.” Evan laughed and stretched a hand out for Luke who took it and appraised Evan before shoving a forkful of pie into his mouth.

“Mm, you weren’t kiddin’, Jay. He’s a keeper.” Luke mumbled around a mouthful and Evan’s gaze flickered to Jonathan. Jonathan downed the rest of his drink and hurried to make another. 

“You good, Jon?” Evan asked and Jonathan nodded and waved his hand dismissively. Evan hovered for another minute before returning to his friends and Jonathan let out a long sigh. 

“Relax.” Luke reminded him and guided him back into the living room. 

Jonathan hardly left Luke’s side and made little conversation with the other’s while they danced and laughed at each other. Someone started up a game of Mortal Kombat and it got louder when they started yelling over the music at each other. 

Evan hovered and kept a close eye on everything, frowning to himself every time he caught sight of Jonathan glued to Luke’s side. The two talked in low whispers and Evan found himself itching to pull Jonathan away for no reason in particular other than he wanted him away from Luke. He didn’t like the feeling and it was making him irritable the longer he paid attention to them until he busied himself with making another drink. He understood that this was probably overwhelming for Jonathan. A lot of new people being loud and rambunctious, it wasn’t his comfort zone and Evan knew that. He was beginning to regret the entire idea of a party until he watched Luke drag him toward the couch and shove a controller in his hand. 

The game seemed to distract Jonathan and soon he was yelling, cursing out Luke like Evan had never heard and he was laughing, his face paint running. Evan stiffened as he watched Luke wiped the red from his chin and Jonathan blushed. He was being ridiculous and he knew it. He had no reason to be jealous, yet his gut churned with the uneasy feeling until the night drew to a close and half his friends took taxies to their hotels while the other half crashed around his living room. 

“You can stay.” Evan told Jonathan as he and Luke made for the door behind Tyler and Jonathan fingered the mask in his hand.

“It’s late, Ev and I’d really just like to go home.” He said honestly and Evan deflated, nodding solemnly before he wiped the running white paint from Jonathan’s cheek.

“Right. Thanks for putting up with my dumbass friends.” Evan smiled weakly and Jonathan shrugged.

“I heard that!” Tyler called as he climbed into his uber and Evan rolled his eyes. 

“I had fun.” Jonathan lied and Evan looked at him. “I did, after a while anyway. It was just.. Loud.” He explained and Evan ran a hand through his hair.

“I know. I’m sorry. Should have just stuck to you and me.” He said and Jonathan patted his chest.

“No, it was nice meeting them. I’ll see you soon, Ev. Goodnight.” Jonathan said and walked with Luke across the street to his house. 

“He is hot.” Luke said once they were inside and Jonathan sighed as he kicked his shoes off and dropped his mask. 

“I know.” Jonathan agreed and sunk to his couch with Luke close behind him.

“Right, let’s hear it.”


	6. Chapter 6

Evan sipped on his coffee and flipped pancakes while he waited for the few of his friends that were left to wake up. Brock was the first to come wandering into the kitchen and he leaned against the counter beside Evan, “So, you got something you wanna tell me?” He asked then grabbed a mug down to make his own cup of coffee.

“Not in particular.” Evan shrugged and Brock hummed in thought as he stole a pancake and ate it plain. “Gross.”

“You’re gross.” Brock threw back and looked at Evan, “How about your neighbor?” He hinted and Evan glanced up at his oldest friend. 

“What about him?”

“I dunno, you tell me.” Brock encouraged and Evan sighed.

“It’s complicated,” he said and flipped another pancake onto his growing stack, “he’s… different.”

“You like different.” Brock reminded and Evan smiled to himself.

“I know, that’s the problem.” He explained as Brock worked on making himself a plate.

“I don’t see the problem.” 

“He doesn’t want to get close to me, you seen him last night. He was glued to Luke’s side the entire time.”

“Yeah, I seen him and I seen you too. You’re gonna have to work on your poker face, Ev. I could practically feel your jealously seeping from your pores.” Brock elbowed him and Evan rubbed the back of his neck.

“That obvious, huh?” 

“If you’ve got a thing for him, just take him out on a date.” Brock encouraged and Evan shook his head.

“I don’t want to push him away when we’re just starting to get close. This is important to me, Brock.” He worried and turned the stove off.

“I can tell. Now I just want to know why.” Brock said around a mouthful of pancake and Evan was at a loss.

“I don’t know… I just want to make him happy.”

-

Jonathan spent the day entertaining Luke and showing him around the neighborhood, avoiding the topic of Evan because Luke wanted to know every little detail about the man and about their friendship. He continuously poked at Jonathan’s feelings toward him and it was getting under Jonathan’s skin, but it was safe to say he no longer felt that desperate heartache he once had around his best friend and that was relief enough to let him deal with Luke’s constant questions. 

Luke couldn’t stay, work called and Jonathan told him he’d see him for Christmas if not before as he hugged him tightly. “You’ve gotta take risks, Jonathan. When love comes knocking, answer the fuckin' door.” Luke told him before grabbing up his bag and hopping into his taxi. 

“Text me when you get home!” Jonathan called after him and Luke waved as he closed the door and then he was gone, leaving Jonathan alone with his thoughts and a quiet house. 

It took all of two hours before Evan was knocking on his door. 

“Don’t you have guests to entertain?” Jonathan wondered as he stood in the doorway and Evan shrugged as he stuffed his hands into his pockets. 

“They went home, life calls y’know? Where’s Luke?” He asked and glanced over Jonathan’s shoulder.

“He went home. Life calls.” 

“I’m sorry about last night.” Evan said and Jonathan sighed, shoulders dropping as he ushered Evan inside. 

“It’s fine, I wanted to have a party, remember? I just got a little overwhelmed is all.” Jonathan said and Evan followed him into his living room.

“No more parties then and if we do have another, it’ll be quieter, less drunk idiots.” Evan promised. 

Jonathan stood and looked around his living room then turned to Evan, “Do you want to help me redecorate?” He asked and Evan looked surprised by the sudden subject change.

“Uh, yeah, sure.” He agreed and glanced at the bare walls that were an ugly beige color. “You could really use some redecorating, actually.” Evan said and Jonathan laughed, nodding his agreement as he sunk to his couch. 

The rest of the day was spent wasted on video games and editing, which Evan helped Jonathan with until the two of them were struggling to hold their eyes open and Jonathan sent Evan home with a bottle of wine that he swore by in his hand.

-

The following days were spent in and out of home improvement stores until they collected enough paint to redo Jonathan’s kitchen and living room then it was onto decorations. “Can never go wrong with posters.” Evan assured while they flipped through an array of band posters and gaming posters. Jonathan learned Evan had an eye for interior design and Evan learned Jonathan favored the color blue. 

The following Wednesday, Evan helped Jonathan pack away anything laying around on his counters and covered the floors with tarps before lining tape along the floor and ceiling. “You’re positive about blue?” Evan asked as he poured paint into a plastic container and Jonathan nodded as he spun the paint roller.

“Positive. It’s a good, happy color. Perfect for a kitchen.” He said and Evan couldn’t agree more. Jonathan took the liberty of finding them some music while they began and he never thought he’d have fun painting, but then again he figured anything with Evan could be fun if they tried hard enough. 

Jonathan stood back by the window, cooling off while he watched Evan stand on his tiptoes to reach the few spots he missed. He swallowed down the tight feeling in his throat and willed his heart to slow the fuck down because there was no reason for it to be beating so fast. It was just, Evan looked really good in the afternoon light and he had flecks of blue paint in his hair and speckling his hands, and he was smiling lazily to himself, completely oblivious to how perfect he looked. 

“Hey daydreamer, a little help?” Evan called and pointed to the highest point of the wall where he couldn’t reach and Jonathan shook his head to clear his thoughts before he returned to painting, quietly brooding to himself while Evan hummed along to the music playing in the background.

Evan enjoyed working with his hands. Keeping his hands busy kept his mind from wandering too much and left him time to organize his thoughts and rationalize rather than worry like he usually did. He continued to think a lot about what Brock had said and worried that even if he and Jonathan managed to get to that point, he’d somehow inevitably fuck it up. Evan didn’t know what Jonathan considered them at this point, friends, good friends, friends who flirted, or maybe that last one was just all in Evan’s head. Jonathan didn’t even know Evan liked men, did he? 

“Jay?” 

Jonathan hummed in question while he painted.

“Would you consider me a close friend?” Evan wondered and Jonathan stopped what he was doing to consider the question. He worked his bottom lip between his teeth and considered the small amount of acquaintances he had compared to Evan and Luke then nodded.

“I’d consider you a best friend, which you should be thankful for because you’re one of two.” Jonathan said and continued painting, oblivious to Evan’s stupid grin and silent celebration.

Evan left around dinner time and promised he’d be back over bright and early to finish the kitchen and start on the living room. It was going to be a process, which Jonathan knew. He showered then retired to his room where he spent the early hours of the morning recording and editing before he finally crashed around four. 

Evan was knocking on Jonathan’s door by ten the next morning and Jonathan was still buried beneath his covers. When he finally managed to drag himself to the front door, he was bombarded by Evan’s strong woodsy sent and the too-sweet smell of pie. Evan pressed a coffee into his hand and squeezed past him, kicking his shoes off along the way to the kitchen. “Morning sleepy head. Late night?” Evan asked as he set his coffee and pie down on Jonathan’s counter. 

“Somethin’ like that.” Jonathan agreed and sipped at the coffee that had cooled considerably since Evan bought it. 

“Well, breakfast is served. I’ll let you wake up while I pull the sheets back out.” Evan said and ruffled Jonathan’s bedhead before dragging the tarps back out over the kitchen floor and getting the paint ready. They had less than half the kitchen to finish, but the kitchen was small compared to the living room so while it would be finished easily in two days, the living room would inevitably take longer. 

Jonathan opened his windows and changed into his clothes from yesterday before raking his fingers through his hair, noting to himself that he needed to get a haircut, and joining Evan to finish what they started. It was quiet for the most part save for the soft music Evan turned on after a while and Jonathan found himself lost in thought, his head spinning with the fumes from the paint and Evan’s faint cologne. He knew he was letting himself get too close, but Evan was all he had here and he was one of Jonathan’s best friends, the stubborn bastard. Jonathan had to give him credit; Evan wasn’t kidding when he said he got what he wanted. 

“What’re you doing for thanksgiving?” Evan wondered and Jonathan shrugged.

“Probably either going home, depending on Luke, or eating whatever I decide to make that day.” He admitted and Evan set his brush down to grab a piece of pie.

“Well, if you’re not going home, you should spend it with me. I’ll inevitably make too much food for myself.” Evan suggested and Jonathan joined him, grabbing a piece of pie for himself.

“Maybe.” He said and poked at a cherry, “You should probably not make that much food.” Jonathan said and Evan smiled.

“Can’t help it. My eyes are bigger than my stomach. Think about it. Let me know. It’d be nice to have the company.” Evan admitted and winked at Jonathan before picking up his brush and setting to finish the wall he’d been working on. 

Jonathan took his time eating his pie while he mulled over Evan’s offer. It was tempting, but something told him it was a bad idea. He needed to start putting a little distance between the two of them or else he’d completely shut Evan out and he didn’t want or need that. 

The kitchen was finished that evening, left to dry while Jonathan walked Evan out. “You want me over tomorrow?” Evan asked and Jonathan shook his head. 

“No, I think I’m gonna take a break and work on some videos. Catch up with your own and I’ll text you when I need you.” Jonathan said and Evan nodded slowly before heading home. 

Something felt off, but he didn’t know what.

-

Jonathan hated lying to anyone, especially those closest to him, but he needed space to breathe and time to think. Luke had said he and Genay had no plans for thanksgiving unless Jonathan was coming home, which didn’t help. Part of him wanted to tell Evan yes, that he’d gladly stuff his face full of whatever he made all day, while the other part of him wanted to fly home and be somewhere safe. He spent the following day covering his furniture and moving the few knickknacks he had so they didn’t get paint on them before he tarped the floor and took to painting, hoping to get his mind off his worrisome thoughts. 

He decided immediately that blue had been the right call. Compared to the kitchen’s light baby blue, the living room would be a deeper, calmer shade that Evan said almost matched Jonathan’s eyes. He nearly caved and called Evan twice, but decided against it and took his time painting. It proved to take much longer with one set of hands rather than two, but Jonathan would invite Evan over again soon, or so he kept telling himself. He gave up late in the afternoon and called Luke up, hoping that a chill gaming session would take his mind off things.

And it did.

It was nearly three in the morning by the time Jonathan climbed in bed and he hadn’t heard from Evan all day. He couldn’t decide if that fact made him happy or sad, but he was fairly sure the prominent ache in his chest was only getting worse.

Evan didn’t take silent treatments well and was ready to pull his hair out when he woke to no messages from Jonathan. He invited himself over and was unhappy to learn Jonathan had begun without him. “I needed to keep my hands busy.” Jonathan explained sheepishly and Evan deflated, knowing what that meant because he too knew the feeling. They settled into a comfortable rhythm once they ran out of things to chat about and Evan couldn’t shake the feeling that Jonathan was pulling away from him, like he didn’t really want to talk, didn’t really want Evan there at all. He didn’t say anything, but Evan was good at reading people and Jonathan’s body language said it all. He was closing up again and Evan was beginning to panic. 

“So, did you think about thanksgiving at all?” Evan asked hopefully and Jonathan worked on opening the next can of paint. 

“Yeah, yeah. I s’pose I’ll join you on the condition you make cherry pie.” Jonathan said and smiled up at Evan.

Evan was relieved to see some of Jonathan’s usual behavior and nodded enthusiastically, “Can do.” He promised and Jonathan nodded then they lapsed back into a silence that made Evan anxious. Something was wrong, something was off, and Evan didn’t know what to do to fix it. 

Jonathan called it quits by seven and invited Evan to stay for dinner even though he was itching to have him leave. He couldn’t make it so obvious, so he made them a mediocre dinner and poured them each a glass of wine. 

It was on the tip of Evan’s tongue the entire time they ate. He wanted to know what was wrong, why Jonathan was so quiet and why he seemed so distant, but he couldn’t bring himself to ask. He ate, he drank two glasses of wine, and he kept the conversation light, afraid that at any moment Jonathan would tell him he didn’t want to be friends anymore and as childish as it sounded, that possibility nearly broke Evan’s heart. Jonathan never said anything of the sort though, only thanked Evan for helping and invited him back over the next day and Evan assured him he’d be over by noon. 

Jonathan wondered if it was a wise decision to tell Evan yes and cursed himself when he figured that no, it probably wasn’t the best idea, but it was too late now.


	7. Chapter 7

The living room was finished in probably record time, Evan thought, and Jonathan had been more sociable if not still somewhat distant. Evan tried not to worry about it too much, but that was easier said than done.

Jonathan dropped the paint brush in his hand when his phone began to ring and cursed, leaving it in favor of silencing his phone. Evan grabbed it and balled the tarps up, sure to inspect the floor for any accidents.

“Hello?” Jonathan answered his phone without looking at the name and was surprised to hear his sister’s voice on the other end.

“Jon, hey sorry. Works kept me busy lately. How’re you?” Alissa asked and Jonathan took a moment to compose himself before he stepped into the kitchen.

“I-I’m alright. I’ve been fine. Where the hell have you been?” Jonathan wondered and listened as Alissa laughed.

“I’ve been trying to get my shit together, like you told me to. I met someone and he’s taken really good care of Rae and me. I’m sober and working… Thought you ought to know.” Jonathan could hear the shrug in her voice and he was on the verge of tears.

“I’m glad to hear it, ‘Lis. How, how is she, Rae?” Jonathan asked and held his phone to his ear with his shoulder while he wrung his fingers together. 

“She’s good, going into first grade now. Can you believe it? You’ll lose your mind when you see how big she’s gotten. She still asks about you, y’know. I was hoping we could see you for thanksgiving, if you don’t already have plans, that is?” She sounded hopeful and Jonathan jumped at the chance to see her and his niece.

“Of course!” He assured and he heard his sister sigh, relieved.

“Great. Keep me posted and we’ll talk soon. I’ve got to run and pick her up from day care. I love you, Jon.”

“Love you too, ‘Lis.” He said and clutched his phone when the call ended. 

“Everything okay?” Evan asked as he hovered in the doorway and Jonathan spun around to face him.

“Yeah, yeah. My sister. That was my sister. I haven’t heard from her in nearly three years.” Jonathan admitted and Evan sat down. “Evan, I’m really sorry, but I think I’m going home for thanksgiving. I haven’t seen her or my niece in so long, I can’t pass this up.” Jonathan explained and Evan bit his tongue and put on a fake smile to cover up his disappointment. 

“That’s fine, totally fine. I’m glad you’re going to see them.” Evan said and he meant it. He could only imagine how it felt.

“Me too.” Jonathan said and smiled to himself. “I won’t be gone longer than a week, think you’ll be alright without me?” Jonathan asked teasingly and Evan wanted to tell him that no, he wouldn’t be, he’d lose his mind, but he nodded.

“Course, what do you take me for? I’ll see if Sydney has plans.” Evan lied easily and watched Jonathan’s face fall. 

“Good, that’ll be good.” Jonathan said, trying to convince both himself and Evan. “It’s getting late.” It wasn’t really, but Jonathan wanted to be alone and Evan took the hint, climbing to his feet and grabbing his jacket as he made his way toward the door. “Thanks again for helping me redecorate, Ev. It would have taken forever by myself.” Jonathan said and smiled weakly. Evan returned it and nodded as he pushed his hands into his pockets.

“Don’t mention it. I’ll see you soon, Jonathan. Goodnight.” Evan said and Jonathan watched him walk across the street.

-

Jonathan made up excuse after excuse to get out of seeing Evan, only occasionally joining him when he was online and avoiding answering his text messages in hopes that Evan would stay scarce. It’d worked for the most part and he was due to leave the following day for North Carolina. He’d told Luke he was coming home and that Alissa was well again. He’d promised he’d make time for him and Luke was ecstatic. Everything was going according to plan until Evan showed up on his doorstep in his pajamas and overgrown hair. 

“You need a haircut.” Jonathan said and Evan’s hand went to his hair.

“So do you.” Evan said and Jonathan laughed before he let him inside. 

“What’s up?” He wondered and Evan paused in his hallway.

“You’ve been avoiding me.” He stated blandly and Jonathan began to deny it, “No more excuses, okay? I know you have been. You’re shutting me out again. What did I do?” Evan asked, clearly distressed and Jonathan stood unable to find the right words. “Was I being too pushy? Did I say something wrong? Has it got to do with Sydney, Luke? Please, Jonathan, I need to know how to fix this.”

Jonathan shifted uncomfortably and his brows furrowed, “Fix what? We’re friends, Evan. There’s nothing to fix. I just need space sometimes. It’s not you it’s,”

“Don’t use that bullshit line on me.” Evan snapped and Jonathan recoiled, looking startled. “I care about you whether you want me to or not. Fuck knows why because you’re stubborn as me and cold as fuckin’ ice, but I’ve still been pacing, worrying that I’m losing you when you’re not even mine to lose.” 

“I warned you, Evan.” Jonathan said, voice wavering with emotion and Evan ached, “I told you this was a bad idea.”

“You did and I guess I should have listened to you.” Evan muttered and slipped past Jonathan, leaving without another word. 

Jonathan stood beneath the freezing water of his shower and wiped at the hot tears streaking his cheeks. It was inevitable, it always was. It always ended like this because Jonathan didn’t know how not to fall in love and Evan was so perfect that Jonathan figured he couldn’t even be faulted at this point. He was going home and when he came back, he’d be starting over again. The thought comforted him, yet the tears continued to flow steadily long after he climbed in bed.

-

Jonathan didn’t really like planes or flying. He didn’t like the idea of going out in a burst of flying flames, but it’d probably be a quick way to go compared to drowning, which freaked him out even more than planes. He comforted himself with the fact that he’d be seeing his sister and his niece within a few short hours for the first time in three years and that was enough to calm him down. He refused to let his thoughts linger on Evan and did his best to push the Asian completely out of his mind. 

He passed the time with movies and music until the plane shuddered to a stop and Jonathan was home. It was colder than California, he noticed, and shortly he’d be surrounded by familiar faces like nothing ever happened. 

Jonathan turned when he heard his name being called and he broke out into a run when he spotted his sister and Luke. Alissa was crying and Jonathan was squeezing the life out of her while Rae yanked on his sweatshirt. “God, I’ve missed you.” Jonathan murmured then released her to look at her. She looked good, better than he remembered. The same long, dark curly hair and deep blue eyes, but they were missing the purple bruises beneath them and her cheeks weren’t sunken in anymore. She looked healthy, happy. “Look at you!” He exclaimed and scooped his niece up, “How old are you now?” He asked and Rae balled her small fists in Jonathan’s shirt.

“Six!” She said excitedly and Jonathan grinned widely at her.

“Six?! No way!”

“Yes way!”

Jonathan hugged her then set her back down and wrapped Luke in a tight hug, “Missed you, brother.” He murmured and Luke patted him on the back before releasing him.

“Missed you too, Jay.” Luke said with a smile and ruffled his hair, “You need a haircut.” He laughed and Jonathan batted his hand away.

“I’ll have Genay cut it when I come over then.” Jonathan grumbled and Luke nodded his approval.

“Good. I’ll see you soon then. ‘Lissa, nice to see you again.” Luke said and waved over his shoulder as he headed toward his car. 

Jonathan wrapped an arm loosely around his sister’s waist and took his niece’s hand as she led them toward their car. “Tell me about your man, then.” Jonathan said and Alissa smiled shyly. 

“You’ll be meeting him tonight. His name is Todd and he’s wonderful. He works down at the shop you and Luke used to work at, practically owns the place. He’s so good with Rae, Jon. I never thought I’d be this happy.” She said and pulled her bottom lip between her teeth to keep from crying.

Jonathan took her free hand and squeezed, “I told you, didn’t I?” She laughed and shook her head then wiped at her eyes.

“You did, you did.” She agreed, “What about you, Johnny? Are you making yourself happy?” She asked and glanced over at him. 

Jonathan shrugged, “I’m tryin’ ‘Lis. I thought movin’ outta here would make me happy and so far it has, but I think I messed things up with a friend.” He admitted and Alissa frowned.

“You need to stop pushing people away, Jonathan. I know you’re tired of hearing it because I’m sure Luke says the same thing, but you’ll be so much happier when you finally let someone in, let them know you and take care of you.” She promised and Jonathan watched out the window as they drove through their hometown.

“I know. You’d think I’d learn by now.” He mumbled and Alissa patted his knee reassuringly.

“Everything will be okay, Jon. It always is.” She said and Jonathan figured she was right.

-

Jonathan hardly put Rae down while Alissa gave him the tour of her home and for the first time in years he felt genuinely happy. They sat and talked idly while Rae watched cartoons and Jonathan told her about Evan, about how special he was and how amazing his pies were. Then he told her about the fight that seemed inane now and she frowned and drummed her fingers against the kitchen table.

“I hope you’re smart enough to apologize when you get home. I’ll bet he’s just like you, Jon. Terrified of breaking his own heart, yet he can’t let it go. He sounds like he really cares about you and if you fuck this up with him, I know you’ll never forgive yourself.” She said and Jonathan hung his head.

“I’m already half in love with him as it is, ‘Lis.” He muttered and she smacked the table, making him jump.

“Then don’t go pushing him away, idiot!” She snapped, “You could be ruining a really good thing!” She chided and Jonathan frowned as he rested his chin on his hand.

“I don’t know if he’s even into guys. He’s got an ex that still comes around and she’s fuckin’ gorgeous, like I can’t compete with that.” Jonathan whined and Alissa rolled her eyes.

“Obviously things didn’t work out for a reason. You ever ask why?” She wondered and Jonathan shrugged.

“He said he was just settling and she’d left him to find himself. He said he realized some things and was thankful she let him go even though he didn’t want her to.”

“Which means he realized he’s into guys. I’ll bet anything she seen it and called him out on it. Told him that she wasn’t what he needed because she knew he’d be happier with a man.” She theorized and Jonathan shook his head.

“Doubt it.”

“You just want to believe you’re never going to have your happily ever after, so when it comes knocking you don’t let it in. This man shows up on your door with pie, your favorite kind mind you, and you want to tell me he’s not interested?” She asked incredulously and Jonathan nodded.

“Right, exactly.” 

“You’re a goddamn idiot. Still.” She said exasperatedly.

“Some things never change.”

-

“Wine is the cure to feelings, trust me on this.” Sydney insisted and poured Evan his third glass. Evan sighed and tucked his feet under himself while he flipped through channels.

“I still don’t like it.” He mumbled and earned a smack upside his head.

“You don’t like anything, grumpy pants.” She muttered and sipped from her own glass.

“I like Jonathan.” He said and she rolled her eyes. 

“And whose fault is it that you went over there and yelled at him?”

“Mine.” Evan said sadly and drank his wine, scowling at the bitter taste. 

“Exactly so stop pouting and bake him a fucking pie when he gets back then say you’re sorry so the two of you can live happily ever after.” She said as if it was the simplest thing in the world and Evan groaned.

“It’s not that easy, Syd. I’m practically in love with him and he doesn’t even know I like guys. He’s like, scared to get close to people. I don’t know who hurt him or what the hell his problem is, but right when we started getting close, he pulled away. Wouldn’t see me for days, wouldn’t return my texts or calls and then acted like nothing was wrong.” 

“You’re being dramatic and completely missing the point. He told you he has a habit of falling for the wrong people, who was he head over heels for? His best friend. He’s pulling away because he’s falling for you, Evan! Open your fucking eyes for once and realize what you’re doing. Take his feelings into consideration. He thinks you’re strictly friends, that you’re uninterested and never will be, so he’s feeling stupid for falling for you and trying to avoid the feelings all together.” Sydney explained and Evan shook his head, rubbing at his face.

“No, no, I don’t think so.” 

“You can think whatever you like, but who’s always right?” Sydney tapped on his forehead and leaned over him.

“You.” Evan murmured and she nodded.

“Me.”


	8. Chapter 8

Jonathan didn’t like people, but he found he liked Todd well enough. He liked that he doted over Alissa and babied Rae, like an actual father that she never had. He was polite and funny and Jonathan approved. His cooking was not comparable to Evan’s, though. Jonathan hadn’t realized how spoiled he was until he tried choking down dry turkey and store bought pie. It was probably one of the worst meals he’d had in weeks, but he’d complimented them both anyway because he wasn’t an asshole. Rae was glued to his side the entire four days he spent there and he wondered if it’d be worth it to move back home. He’d be with his family, sure, but ultimately he wouldn’t be happy. He’d be settling and he had no interest in that. 

He avoided discussing Evan and Alissa let it drop, settling for talking about how she and Todd met and how long she stayed in rehab. She’d been hooked on heroin on and off since the year Rae was born and Jonathan figured she’d OD before she ever got help, but he was wrong obviously. He’d missed his sister more than he realized and it was good to have her back, good to feel like his family was somewhat whole again. 

Jonathan risked the question before he left for Luke’s, “Have you heard from dad?” He asked, partially hopeful, but also very aware the answer was going to be a negative.

Alissa frowned and tucked a long piece of Jonathan’s wild hair behind his ear, “No, not since the funeral.” She said and he nodded thoughtfully before hugging her.

“We’re fine, we’re always fine, ‘Lis. Thank you for food, for everything.” He said and she kissed his forehead.

“You’re welcome anytime, Jon. Stay in touch, please.” She said and Jonathan promised he would before he headed out. 

-

Genay answered the door and swept Jonathan up in a fierce hug, “Oh, we’ve missed you!” She crooned and squeezed him until he finally pried himself away, laughing.

“I’ve missed you too, G. Where’s Luke?”

“He’s just getting out of the shower, look at that hair!” She said and grabbed a long piece, curling it around her finger. “I can’t decide if it makes you look older or younger.” She said thoughtfully and Jonathan rolled his eyes. 

“It makes me look like a disaster, will you cut it?” He asked and she beamed.

“Of course! Sit your pretty little behind down and I’ll find my scissors.” She said and ushered him into the kitchen where it smelled like coffee was brewing. Jonathan sat in one of the old kitchen chairs and looked around the familiar place. It was exactly how he remembered it and it still smelled like home. “So,” Genay started and shook her cape out before draping it around Jonathan’s shoulders, “any particular style?” She asked and Jonathan shrugged.

“Surprise me.” He said and he closed his eyes while Genay wet his hair and combed out the tangles. 

“You don’t take a break do you?” Luke laughed when he walked in and Genay looked up from Jonathan’s hair.

“Rarely.” She agreed.

Luke stood in front of Jonathan to assess him, “How was thanksgiving?” He asked and Jonathan grimaced.

“Food was horrible,” he said honestly, “but visiting was nice. I’ve really missed them, y’know?” He said and hissed when Genay pulled his hair.

“I can imagine.” Luke agreed and pulled out a seat for himself. “How about Evan?”

Jonathan stiffened and looked away, “We had a small fight before I left.” He admitted and Luke waited for the details. “I’d been putting some space between us and he didn’t like that.” 

Luke sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, “What are we gonna do with you?”

“Love me?” Jonathan suggested and Genay smacked him upside the head.

“We do, now hold still before I cut your ear off.” She warned and Jonathan shut up, smiling despite himself.

Luke made all three of them a cup of coffee and Genay finished Jonathan’s hair, brushing the remnants from his shirt as he stood up and ran his fingers through his tamed locks. “Go look and tell me what you think.” She said and Jonathan wandered toward the bathroom. She’d buzzed the sides and left his wild curls longer than usual on top, yet short enough that it looked styled. He liked it and he told her so. “Wonderful. You’ve got the prettiest curls, Jon.” She complimented and Jonathan ducked his head shyly. “Now out with it, what’s going on with you and Evan?” She demanded and Jonathan groaned then looked to Luke.

“You told her?”

Luke shrugged and glanced to his girlfriend, “What kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn’t bring home the latest gossip? But yeah, I wanna know too so spill.”

Jonathan explained the situation and their argument then was lectured about how dumb he was and how overdramatic he was being. He told them what Alissa had said and Luke scrubbed a hand over his face before groaning.

“She’s right, y’know.” He said and Jonathan let his head fall to the table.

“Can we leave my nonexistent love life alone for a while? I’ve only got another day before I’m on my flight back and I’ve got to figure out a way to apologize. Unlike him, I can’t bake for shit.”

“Wine.” Genay said and got up to rummage through the fridge, “Wine is the cure to feelings.” She said and pulled a bottle out, handing it to Jonathan. “Best I’ve ever had, would recommend.”

“He doesn’t like wine.”

“He probably doesn’t like cheap wine, get something expensive and treat him to dinner. Isn’t that what he did for you?” She recalled and Jonathan shot Luke a dirty look.

“Yeah, but he can actually cook.” Jonathan reminded and Genay gave him a withering look.

“Jon, it’s the thought that counts. He’ll eat it regardless, I promise.” 

“You’re so sure about this.” Jonathan mumbled and Genay dropped her hands to his shoulders.

“Because I know people and I especially know men.” She said and looked at Luke, “Trust me on this one.”

Jonathan spent the rest of the evening tucked between Luke and Genay on the couch watching sappy rom-coms until he couldn’t hold his eyes open and Luke steered him toward the guest bedroom. “What time does your flight leave tomorrow?” Luke asked and Jonathan pulled his shirt over his head while he thought.

“Six.” He recalled and Luke stared at him.

“Six in the morning?” He asked incredulously and Jonathan snorted.

“Six at night.” He clarified and Luke nodded.

“Right. I’ll drive you to the airport then. Night, Jay.”

Jonathan climbed in bed and thumbed his phone before typing out a message then deleting it. He did the same thing four more times before he hit send and muted his phone. He left it on the bedside table and rolled over to sleep.

-

Evan stared down at his phone in his lap and the text on the screen from Jonathan.

_I’m sorry. I’ll explain things when I get home tomorrow over dinner if you’ll hear me out._

He didn’t know whether or not to reply and he didn’t know what to say besides ‘okay’. He was still irritated with Jonathan’s behavior, but he wanted more than anything to know why Jonathan refused to let him in. Why he held him at arm’s length. He brought his knees to his chest and typed out a quick reply:

_I’ll bring pie._

That would be enough to let Jonathan know he wasn’t upset anymore and hopefully he had some damn good reasoning as to why he felt the need to push Evan away.

-

Jonathan woke to the smell of coffee and Genay sitting at the kitchen table with her phone in her hand. He greeted her in the form of a grunt and made his own cup before sitting with her and enjoying the silence before Luke got up. 

Luke was a morning person.

“Mornin’ sunshine.” He chirped as he waltzed in, hair sticking up at odd angles and sleep lines on his face. He wore a tired smile and squeezed himself in the space between Jonathan and Genay. “How’d you sleep?” He asked. Jonathan just looked at him and Luke chuckled. 

“Leave him alone, Luke.” Genay chided and Luke pouted until Jonathan was on his second cup of coffee and more talkative. Genay wanted to know about Jonathan’s house and his neighborhood and the people so he told her. He told her he and Evan recently repainted his kitchen and living room and he was in the process of decorating the walls before he left. He told her the neighborhood was bigger than he was used to and the people were okay, not as sociable as they were here, but still kind enough. Jonathan asked about her work and Luke’s work and his latest car crush before Luke dragged him to the garage to show him his newest gun in his collection. 

The rest of the day was spent in front of the TV playing BattleBlock Theater and Mortal Kombat, which Jonathan had secretly, not so secretly, missed. He didn’t check his phone until he was packing to head to the airport and he was smiling like an idiot when he met Luke in the hallway. “What’re you smilin’ bout? Lover boy hit you up?” Luke wondered and Jonathan flushed.

“Maybe.” He mumbled and Luke threw an arm around his shoulder as they headed out, calling over his shoulder to Genay. Genay demanded Jonathan visit again soon and he promised her he would be home around Christmas. Jonathan kept his eyes on his lap or out the window the entire drive to the airport and Luke just smiled knowingly.

“You’re pretty fucked, huh?” He asked as he parked and Jonathan sighed as he pocketed his phone.

“I am, but I think I can fix things.” Jonathan said hopefully and Luke hugged him before he got out.

“I’m rootin’ for ya, brother.”

“Talk soon, Luke.” Jonathan said and threw a peace sign over his shoulder as he headed inside the airport with his bag in his hand and stupid smile on his face.

He went through a list of things he could make for dinner that would be suitable for Evan, but Jonathan wasn’t a chef. He cooked well enough for the typical man, but Evan’s standards were bound to be high with the way his food was. He figured he couldn’t really go wrong with pasta, but it’d all be store bought stuff he’d throw together in a pot. Of course, he knew which spices to add, which made it a little bit better, but would it be good enough? Or maybe Genay was right and it was the thought that counted. Evan was easy to please, content with the little things so Jonathan figured all he had to do was try and see. At least he knew which wine to get.

The flight felt like it took longer, but that was only because he was so eager to get home and whip up his apology dinner. He’d need to get to the store before he got home because he didn’t want Evan showing up before he had food ready so when he landed, he found his car where he’d left it and threw his bag in the back then headed straight to the grocery store, crossing his fingers Evan didn’t pick today to go shopping.

Mostaccioli was easy to make and one of his own personal favorites so he settled for that while he wandered up and down the aisles and collected the necessary things. He debated on wine for longer than he’d like to admit and finally got through the checkout and made his way home with his thoughts scattered and his hands shaking.

He hurried inside once he parked and shoved all his groceries into the fridge so he could shower before he began cooking. 

-

Evan paced his kitchen with a pie in the oven as he waited on Jonathan. He’d watched him pull in and seen him carry an armful of things inside. If he was still upset before, he was over it now. Simply seeing the man dissipated his irritation and sent his heart racing in his chest. Now it was a waiting game. 

-

Jonathan drank two glasses of wine while he cooked, hoping to settle his nerves and it did somewhat. He was still anxious and too excited for his own good, but he couldn’t help it. When dinner was finally done, he set the table and shot Evan a text before turning the oven off and setting the bottle of wine he’d bought on the table along with two glasses. Evan was knocking on his door five minutes later and Jonathan composed himself before he opened it.

“Hey.” Evan said and smiled, the one that made Jonathan weak in the knees.

“Hey,” Jonathan greeted and opened the door wider for him, “come in.”

“How was thanksgiving?” Evan asked as he followed Jonathan into the kitchen and Jonathan pulled a chair out for Evan before sitting down. Evan set his pie alongside the rest of the food.

“It was nice. Really nice to catch up.” He said with a soft smile and Evan sat down, eyeing the food on the plate in front of him.

“Smells good.” He complimented and Jonathan shrugged.

“I’m no chef, but it’s the best I can do.”

Evan didn’t hesitate in shoving a forkful into his mouth and he hummed in thought, “Not bad.” He said honestly and Jonathan flushed as he began to eat. “So,” Evan started and glanced up at Jonathan, “what’s your angle?” 

Jonathan set his fork down and leaned forward, “No angle, I just wanna feed you.”


	9. Chapter 9

“I owe you an apology.” Evan murmured and Jonathan shook his head.

“No, I do.”

“Maybe we both do, but either way I’m sorry.” Evan said and Jonathan cleared their plates, grabbing clean ones for pie.

“So am I. See Evan, I wasn’t just spouting that line for no reason. It really is me. I’ve got issues when it comes to getting close to people and I know it, so I try to avoid letting myself get too close. My biggest fear is getting hurt, yet I constantly hurt myself when I push people away. It’s fucked up.” Jonathan explained as he popped a cherry into his mouth.

“I’d never hurt you.” Evan said softly and Jonathan sighed.

“No, I don’t think you would, but old habits die hard. I’m really trying… It’s just going to take some time.” 

“We’ve got all the time in the world. Now why don’t you tell me about that haircut cause it looks a little different than when you left.” Evan teased and Jonathan told him about his sister and his niece and his horrid thanksgiving dinner that was a joke compared to Evan’s cooking. He told him about Genay doing his hair and Luke’s odd obsession with guns and cars and that he sat next to the most annoying woman on the flight home. Evan listened intently, faint smile never leaving his lips and Jonathan realized that even if it ached to be around Evan, it was worth it.

“What’d you do for thanksgiving?” Jonathan asked curiously and Evan sipped at his wine, finding that he liked it more than he usually did.

“Spent the night getting wine drunk with Sydney. She told me I was overdramatic and always wrong then she left me to eat an entire pie by myself.” Evan said and Jonathan laughed.

“I received a similar lecture.” He admitted and Evan dragged his pie closer to him. 

“We’re pretty dumb, huh?” He muttered and stuck his fork into the pie.

“Yeah, yeah we are.” Jonathan agreed and watched Evan eat pie straight from the container. 

“For some reason, whenever I bake them for you, they turn out better.” Evan said and Jonathan tried not to overthink that comment as he cleaned up the mess he’d made while cooking dinner. Evan hovered until he was finished and they retired to the living room where they talked rather than watched TV and Jonathan felt the weight roll off his shoulders. Evan told him stories about his mom and Jonathan told Evan stories about growing up with Luke. They were both fairly tipsy toward the end of the night and Evan dragged Jonathan into a tight embrace before he went home.

“I really missed you while you were gone.” He admitted and Jonathan rested his chin on Evan’s shoulder as he held him. 

“I missed you too.” He murmured and pulled away slowly. Evan looked at him and looked like he wanted to say something more, but decided against it and wished him a goodnight before he made his way across the street. Jonathan wondered idly what he’d have done if he’d kissed him then climbed in bed wondering what Evan’s lips tasted like. If he had to guess, he’d say cherries and blackberry wine.

-

Jonathan spent the next couple of days catching up on recording and editing. He was falling behind and somewhere along the way he’d gained nearly half a million subscribers. He figured he had Evan and his wild friends to thank for that. A change of pace was good and it did his channel good. Evan showed up nearly every evening to binge watch something on Netflix and Jonathan stopped trying to push him away, but he still kept a wall between them. 

November faded into December and Christmas carols began spouting from every radio until Jonathan wanted to pull his hair out. 

“Speaking of Christmas,” Evan said while they stood in his kitchen making cookies, “I’m assuming you’re going home for Christmas, right?” 

“Yeah, I think I’ve missed enough Christmases with my family as it is, don’t need to miss anymore.”

“Right, so I was thinking like the week beforehand maybe we could have a party.” Evan suggested and Jonathan looked at him, frowning. “No, no, a tiny party, more like a get together than a party. My friends didn’t get to properly meet you and they’ve been dying to. Maybe less alcohol, more cookies and quieter guests.” Evan said and Jonathan chewed his lip in thought.

“Maybe I’ll fly my family out here for Christmas instead.” Jonathan said and Evan raised his brows.

“Now there’s an idea. Bet they’d love it here then they could celebrate with us if you have ‘em come the week before.” 

“I’ll talk to ‘Lissa about it.” Jonathan said and popped a ball of cookie dough into his mouth. “Luke’s gonna wanna come too, which means Genay will be here.”

“The more the merrier.” Evan said and slipped the next pan of cookies into the oven.

“You’re okay with that many people in your house?” Jonathan wondered and Evan shrugged as he rolled out more dough.

“Sure, why not? Long as they don’t trash the place.” 

“You’re insane.” Jonathan muttered and Evan chuckled.

“Probably.”

-

“So,” Evan began while they sat on his couch and sunk their cookies into milk, “what made you fall in love with your best friend?” He wondered and Jonathan choked on a laugh. 

“Uh, well. I couldn’t have him so inevitably I wanted him. I don’t really know, I think it had to do with his sense of humor and his ‘don’t give a shit’ attitude. I really liked how confident he was and how he loved me regardless of what a bitch I was. He accepted me for me and I loved that.”

“Now, did you love him or were you _in love_ with him?” Evan asked and propped his feet up on his coffee table. Jonathan thought long and hard about the question and decided he wasn’t sure.

“I don’t know. I can’t say I’ve been properly _in love_ before so maybe I just loved him, or loved the idea of him being mine.” Jonathan shrugged and looked at Evan. “Why’d you and Sydney break up… really?”

Evan set his glass down and brushed the crumbs from his lap then made himself comfortable, letting his head fall back. “Sydney, I’m pretty sure, is like seventy percent psychic,” he started and he sighed, “we were happy, things were good, but I’ve always felt like I was missing something and she didn’t fill the hole. She told me I stared at guys longer than any straight man should and I figured maybe that was because I wasn’t straight. I never really accepted it myself even though I figured as much, so I never talked about it, never dated guys. Sydney told me I was settling and that she didn’t want me settling so she packed her things, told me she loved me and always would then left. I was heartbroken, but she was right. I had to find myself and accept myself and I did. I think it was the push I needed in the right direction and I can’t thank her enough.”

Jonathan mulled over the new information, brain going into overload at the fact that Evan was at the very least bisexual. “Sounds like she knows what she’s talking about.” Jonathan said, not able to think of anything better to say.

Evan chuckled and nodded, “She’s usually right and she likes to remind me of that as often as she can.”

“Women.” Jonathan muttered and Evan snorted.

“Women.” He agreed.

-

Jonathan hung another picture on the wall and stood back to appraise the angle, hands on his hips and bottom lip between his teeth. 

“Don’t strain too much, I can see the smoke coming from your ears already.” Evan joked and Jonathan jumped.

“When did you get here?”

“About a minute and twenty-three seconds ago. What’re you looking so hard at?” Evan asked and stood beside Jonathan to stare at his wall.

“Does it look straight to you?” Jonathan asked and Evan tilted his head.

“Not anymore.”

Jonathan smacked him and huffed before digging around in another box he’d dragged out from his closest. “It looks fine, Jay. It actually looks great in here. You’ve really spruced the place up, eh?”

“Been trying to. I think it looks better than it did. Less bare. I get paranoid when there’s nothing on the walls, don’t ask me why.” 

“Why?” 

“Evan.” Jonathan warned and Evan giggled to himself as he wandered toward Jonathan’s kitchen. 

“I brought pie.” He called and Jonathan followed after him. 

“You really need to take a break.” Jonathan said as he stuck his fork straight into the pie.

“Why’s that?” Evan asked and Jonathan pulled his shirt up to reveal his stomach.

“Because I’ve put on twelve pounds and I know for a fact that it’s your fault.” He said and poked at his stomach. 

Evan leaned closer to examine Jonathan’s stomach then poked it with his fork, “Where?”

“What do you mean ‘where’? Right here, obviously. This little pooch never used to be here.” Jonathan said and pinched at his skin.

“Hate to break it to you, Jon, but if you’ve still got a six pack I don’t think you can say much about gaining weight. You run nearly every morning and you drink nothing but water and wine.”

Jonathan let his shirt drop and he smoothed his hand over his stomach, “Just cut back on bringing me pies on the daily, yeah?”

Evan shrugged, “Sure, sure.” He agreed, still planning on bringing pies over whenever he felt like it. “Have you talked to your sister yet?” Evan wondered and Jonathan nodded as he chewed.

“Yeah, they’re planning on flying out next week and Luke said he’d be here round the twentieth. When were you thinking for the party?” 

“The twentieth.” Evan said and Jonathan shrugged.

“He snoozes he loses. I think his flight gets in pretty early so just keep the date and we’ll plan for that evening. Any idea who’s gonna be coming yet?” Jonathan asked and Evan pulled his phone from his pocket.

“Confirmed: Nogla, Tyler, Mini, Lui, and Brock. Still waiting on: Marcel, Brian, Anthony and Scotty. Guess we’ll see within the next week or so.” Evan said and tucked his phone away while they finished eating. 

-

For the next week, Evan and Jonathan traded off decorating houses. They said goodbye to their beloved Halloween decorations and worked on stringing Christmas lights from corner to corner and setting up fake Christmas trees. Evan bought the stuff to make personalized stockings for everyone so they sat down and ironed on everyone’s name on a stocking and hung them up. 

Evan had most of his Christmas shopping done, while Jonathan had hardly started on his. “You’re insane to have waited this long.” Evan told him while they were out one day and Jonathan waved him off while he uncapped another candle and smelled it. 

“It’s fine. I’m the shittiest gift buyer anyway. Should I get your friends something?” Jonathan wondered as he added a candle to his basket.

“No, I’ll just sign both our names on what I got them.” Evan said as he grabbed a wreath and put it on Jonathan’s head. 

“They’ll get the wrong idea. Don’t, I’m allergic to pine.” Jonathan whined and batted Evan away.

“Wrong idea?” Evan asked and threw the wreath back then caught up with Jonathan who’d disappeared to the next aisle over.

“Yeah, like we’re a couple or something.” Jonathan said absentmindedly and Evan flushed.

“Let them think what they want.” He said dismissively and Jonathan shrugged.

“Whatever you say. Now what the fuck do I get Luke? What the fuck do I get you for that matter?” Jonathan asked as they stood in the middle of the aisle. Evan glanced around and spotted the toy section across the store then made a beeline for it. “Wait up!” Jonathan called and hurried after him. 

“This’ll do.” Evan said and dropped a Styrofoam batman mask into Jonathan’s cart. Jonathan grabbed it and inspected it.

“Seriously?” He raised a brow and Evan looked curiously at him, “This is what you want?” Evan nodded slowly and then wandered down the next aisle while Jonathan sighed and followed behind him. 

-

“That’s not all you’re getting him, right?” Luke asked and Jonathan rubbed at his eyes.

“I don’t know what else _to_ get him. He’s so difficult.” He grumbled and Luke hummed in thought while he packed his suitcase.

“Get him something nice like a watch, or get him a new apron. He bakes.” Luke reminded as if Jonathan had forgotten.

“He’s got an entire cupboard full, he doesn’t need another one.”

“Of watches?” Luke asked incredulously.

“Of aprons, dumbass.”

“Makes more sense. Well, I dunno, Jay. I just think Christmas would be a good, cliché time to tell him how you feel and a batman mask is just not gonna get the job done.” 

“Thanks, I didn’t already know that.” Jonathan said irritably and Luke laughed.

“You’ll think of something.” He assured and told him he had to go pack the rest of his shit so Jonathan let him go and sat in his kitchen waiting for his sister to arrive.

When she finally did, Jonathan pulled her aside and begged for her help, “I have no idea what to get him, but I want it to be special and I can’t think of a damn thing he needs or wants.” He explained and Alissa ran a comforting hand through his hair.

“Relax, tell me what he likes.” She said and Jonathan racked his brain for his Evan List.

“He likes baking, the color red, owls, video games, movies, music, lilies, fuzzy socks…” Jonathan listed off and Alissa looked at him.

“You’re telling me you’re not already dating?” She asked and Jonathan rolled his eyes.

“He’s my best friend right next to Luke.” He said and she shrugged.

“How about you make a tiny little care basket with all his favorite things and write him something nice?” She suggested and the idea wasn’t half bad.

“I can’t write, ‘Lis.” Jonathan reminded and she raised her eyebrows.

“Sure? I was pretty positive it was you who aced your creative writing class and had a shelf full of poetry.” She recalled and Jonathan flushed.

“That was years ago.” 

“Talent doesn’t fade, Jon. C’mon, I’ll help you shop and you can sit down tonight and write him something special.”


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have this a day early since I'll be gone all day tomorrow <3 We've got one chapter to go yet. Thanks to those of you who've stuck around with me.

Jonathan stared at the mess of things he’d bought and chewed his nails while he tried to arrange in his mind how they’d look the best. He set to work on organizing the small basket he’d gotten and decided the stuffed owl needed to go up front. He’d caved and gotten Evan an apron anyway, a pink one with tiny hearts all over it because Jonathan loved it and he’d love to see it on Evan. He’d gotten him a watch, a nice one, and a fuzzy pair of socks with moose on them. He’d bought a book to keep recipes in, a box of his favorite candy, and a collection of CDs Jonathan knew he didn’t have. It took a couple tries before he liked the way it looked and then came the hard part. 

He wasn’t sure what he wanted to say, yet he was. He knew he needed to explain to Evan how much he meant to him and he needed to do it the right way. He needed to thank him and he needed to be honest with him. It took an hour and a half and two balled up pieces of paper, but he finished it and forced Alissa to read it. She smiled stupidly and wiped at her watering eyes before handing it back to him and nodding.

“That’s definitely gonna win him over.” She assured and Jonathan crossed his fingers that she was right because he’d feel like a damn fool if Evan laughed in his face.

Luke arrived the following day bright and early with Genay in tow and took to Rae immediately. Luke loved kids and proved to be rather good with them. The party didn’t start until seven so they had time to kill and Jonathan had to make sure Luke didn’t go snooping for his present. Jonathan’s house was busy, but he knew Evan’s would be busier so he had a glass of wine and baked cookies with Rae and Genay while Luke, Todd, and Alissa wrapped presents and sang Christmas carols off-key.

-

Evan hummed to himself as he pulled another pie from the oven and set it out to cool with the rest. He was expecting Brock soon and wanted to be done cooking by the time everyone got there so an extra set of hands would go a long way. Not even ten minutes later, Brock was knocking at the door and Evan pulled it open, looking frazzled and covered in flour. “Need a hand?” Brock asked with a grin and Evan’s shoulders sagged.

“More like four.” He said and led Brock inside, “Drop your stuff anywhere. We’ll move it later. I’ve got ham going in the oven and another pie coming out in, oh, six minutes?” Evan said and grabbed a bag of potatoes from his pantry. 

“What’d you want me to do?” Brock asked and Evan handed him the bag. 

“Peel these.” 

“All of them?”

“I don’t know yet.” Evan said seriously and Brock laughed then set to work. “How was your flight?” Evan asked as he sliced up pineapple and dropped it in the pot with the ham. 

“Not too bad. So, I’m curious, what’re you doing for Jonathan far as a gift goes?” Brock wondered and Evan smiled to himself. 

“I’ll show you when my hands are clean.” He promised and continued to hum idly while they prepared dinner. 

Tyler showed next with Lui close behind him and they both nearly stuck their fingers in Evan’s perfect pies. “Don’t you dare.” Evan warned and threatened them with a knife. David came next and Craig less than a minute after him. Brian and Marcel carpooled together and the rest of the guys couldn’t make it. 

“Evan,” David wandered into the kitchen with leaves in his hand, “where d’you think I should hang this?” 

“Why do you need to hang a handful of leaves up?” Evan asked and poked at the potatoes that were boiling on the stove.

“Not _leaves_.” David said and held them above Evan’s head, “Mistletoe.” He clarified and Evan leaned away from him when he tried to kiss his cheek. 

“That’s not necessary.” Evan decided and David whined.

“Why not?”

“Because it’s not, Nogla, and if I catch you trying to sneak peeks at your gifts again you’re not gonna get ‘em. Out of my kitchen.” Evan said and snapped a towel at him. David grumbled and moved onto the next room, still searching for the perfect spot to lay his trap. 

“How’s dinner?” Sydney asked and Evan nearly dropped his pie in surprise. 

“Syd. When did you get here?”

“About a minute and forty-two seconds ago. You’ve got flour in your hair.” She said and ran her fingers through Evan’s disheveled hair. “You’ve also got some people at your door.” She said and his doorbell rang. Evan just looked at her before he shook his head and made his way toward the door. 

Jonathan stood decked out in a Christmas sweater that said: “I’ve been naughty” and reindeer antlers on his head. Evan laughed and opened his door wider. “Looks like the party has started without us. Evan, this is Luke, you already know. His girlfriend, Genay. My sister, Alissa. Her man, Todd. And her daughter, Rae.” Jonathan introduced as they filed into the house and Evan directed them all toward the living room. Jonathan followed him back into the kitchen and grinned. “Little bit of a mad house, huh?” He asked and Evan shook his head.

“It’s been insane, but dinner is almost done so then at least I won’t be running around like a chicken with my head cut off.” Evan said and Jonathan looked him up and down.

“You’re not very festive.” He noted and Evan shrugged.

“Haven’t had time to change yet. I’ve got a sweater, don’t you worry.” He promised and Jonathan feigned hurt.

“You went ugly Christmas sweater shopping without me?” 

“No room to talk, look at yours.” Evan said and nodded to Jonathan’s sweater.

“I’ve had this one for years. It’s my favorite. Here.” Jonathan took his antlers off and put the headband on Evan. “Better.” He said and Evan shook his head as he pulled the ham from the oven. 

“Dinner is served.” Evan muttered and not two minutes later the kitchen was bustling with people making plates and trying to find places to sit. Jonathan took his usual spot on Evan’s counter and was surprised to see Sydney do the same, hoisting herself up beside him and glancing down at his sweater. 

“Naughty, eh? Care to share?” She wondered and winked. Jonathan flushed and giggled nervously. “I’m kidding.” Sydney said and elbowed him. “Evan’s got his eye on you, so as cute as you are, you’re already taken as far as I’m concerned.” Jonathan nearly choked and didn’t have time to ask her what she was talking about before Evan was standing in front of them with a pie in his hands.

“Hide this before it’s gone.” He said and Jonathan took it, nearly spilling his plate on his lap.

“Hide it where?” Jonathan wondered and Evan held his hands up.

“Dunno. In your stomach?” He suggested and hunted for his own plate that mysteriously went missing. Sydney took the chance to escape and Jonathan was left sitting on the counter with an entire pie, half a plate of food and zero explanation. 

Once everyone ate their fair share, most of them retired to the living room to watch Home Alone, but Jonathan, Brock, and Sydney lingered in the kitchen with Evan to help clean up. “I’ve got it guys, go let your food settle.” Evan insisted, but nobody listened to him. He gave up and worked on putting leftovers away and once the counter was cleared, he grabbed three wine bottles from the fridge. Sydney took one then disappeared to the living room while Evan poured a glass for himself, Brock, and Jonathan. Brock took his leave after thanking Evan and Jonathan was left standing there with a glass of wine and a million questions.

“I feel like I’m going insane.” Evan said and Jonathan smiled.

“I’d say it’s going good then.” He said.

Evan sighed heavily and sipped at his wine as he leaned against the counter, “When should we do presents?” He asked and Jonathan shrugged.

“When everyone relaxes a little. They’re all wound up. Maybe pass the wine bottle around. Spike the eggnog.” Jonathan suggested and Evan wrinkled his nose. 

“Eggnog is gross.” 

“Monster.” Jonathan gasped and took his preferred wine with him into the living room. 

Tyler and Luke were talking animatedly on the couch while Alissa, Sydney, and Genay hovered in one corner talking quietly amongst themselves. Lui and David were arm-wrestling and Rae was squeezed between Craig and Marcel watching Home Alone with Brian and Brock on either side of them. Jonathan took a seat on the floor and offered the bottle to anyone who wanted it while Evan stood and appraised his friends. He really couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate Christmas than this. 

Brock climbed to his feet and pulled Evan away, stealing his wine bottle to refill his glass, “So, you gonna show me or not?” He asked and Evan spun on his heel to head toward his bedroom. 

“You’re going to think it’s silly.” Evan said as he dug around in his drawer for the box. 

“You’re proposing?” Brock asked as he eyed the velvet box and Evan rolled his eyes.

“No. Definitely not. I’m not giving it to him like this and there’s a little bit of a story behind it. It was my mothers.” Evan explained and Brock turned it over in his fingers, “I always liked the idea of giving it to someone important to me and for a while it was going to be Sydney’s, but y’know. His fingers are slim enough that I think it’ll fit. Is it too feminine do you think?” Evan wondered and Brock shook his head.

“No, no I think it’s pretty perfect. Suits him.” He said matter-of-factly.

“Think he’ll like it?” Evan asked and Brock gave him a look. Evan ducked his head and took the ring back. “Right. I’m not doing it till later. Till then he’s getting a candle.”

“A candle?” Brock asked and Evan nodded.

“He loves the smell of pine, but he’s allergic to it. So a candle.” 

“That’s cute.”

“Shut up. Let’s get back. I’m thinking it’s time to pass out presents.” Evan said and Brock agreed as they made their way back to the living room.

-

It became chaotic the moment Evan mentioned presents and everyone began handing wrapped gifts out, paper went flying and Evan wished they would have done this at Jonathan’s house instead because he was going to have one hell of a mess to clean up. He handed his own presents out and wondered if this would have gone better had he had some sort of organization, but this was exactly how things always were: loud, crazy, and uncoordinated. 

Jonathan slipped Evan’s stupid batman mask over his face and snapped the string against his head, “This isn’t all you’re getting, but you’ll get the rest later.” He said and Evan handed him his wrapped candle. 

“Same goes for you.” Jonathan unwrapped it then inhaled deeply, smiling stupidly at Evan. 

“That mask is too small for your face.” Jonathan noticed and Evan shrugged, putting on a deep voice.

“I am the night.” He coughed and Jonathan laughed at him before moving on to hand out the rest of his presents. 

When everyone finished unwrapping their gifts, they began forming paper balls that went sailing through the air, aimed at faces and in particular, Evan’s face. A war broke out until someone called time out and Evan hurried to collect the paper balls, stuffing them in a trash bag before anyone called time in. No one did, however, and it settled down once everyone was content with their presents and their pick of wine and pie. 

Rae fell asleep in Alissa’s lap so she told Jonathan she was going to head back across the street to put her to bed and that she’d see him in the morning. Todd followed her and Evan seen them out, thanking them for coming. 

Slowly, but surely those who were leaving left and those who were staying changed into pajamas and found a comfortable spot to spend the night. Jonathan disappeared without Evan noticing and ran to grab his gift before returning and waiting in the hallway for him. Evan found him eventually and looked questioningly at him. “The rest of your presents.” Jonathan explained and Evan nodded before he led them back toward his room. Jonathan set the basket on Evan’s bed and grabbed the folded up letter before Evan could. “This goes last.” He said and Evan smiled as he eyed the basket of things. He picked them up one by one and gushed over the owl, the socks, and the watch. He unfolded the apron and immediately tied it around his neck.

“Excellent. I don’t have a pink one.” He said thoughtfully and Jonathan snickered.

“Well, now you do.”

“Now I do.” Evan agreed and eyed the letter in Jonathan’s hand. “Can I have that now? I feel like that’s the most important part of my present.”

“It is.” Jonathan agreed and turned it over in his fingers. He cleared his throat and held it out for him. “Sorry about my handwriting.” He murmured and Evan unfolded it, glancing over the messy script that lined the page.

_Evan,_  
_I’m not very good with words when it comes to speaking them aloud. I learned that at a young age, so I picked up writing. It’s been ages since I’ve actually written anything, so I’m sorry in advance, but there are a few things you need to know._  
_First, I consider you my best friend. I know Luke is right up there with you, but ultimately I think it’s you._  
_Second, thank you for everything. Every pie, every dinner, every movie night, every bottle of wine, every second glance, thank you._  
_Third, I care about you as much as it pains me to admit that because it means you’ve won, but I suppose in a way I’ve won as well. You’ve managed to win me over with your wit and excellent cooking, though I don’t know how much your wit came into play, but you’ve made a home in my heart. I hope you’re happy with yourself._  
_I’m sorry it took me so long to realize what I have here. I know often I come across brash or cold, but it’s how I cope, not that that excuses things. You’ve become a big part of my life and I don’t think I’ll ever be able to explain to you exactly what that means, but know that I appreciate your existence and I really couldn’t have asked for a better neighbor._  
_Now you’re stuck with me_.  
_Merry Christmas,_  
_-Jonathan_

Evan blinked several times before he looked back up at a very nervous looking Jonathan. He folded the paper back up and stuck it alongside his other gifts before crossing the room and digging around in his dresser. He pulled the ring from the box and sat on the edge of his bed, patting the space beside him. Jonathan wrung his fingers nervously in his lap, waiting on Evan to say something. Anything.

Evan held his hand out and Jonathan looked at it curiously until Evan took his hand and held it. “My mom used to tell me a couple of things. She always insisted that the way to someone’s heart was surely through their stomach. She also said if I didn’t wear socks, I’d catch my death of cold. Those two things she was right about for the most part, but she used to tell me when I was younger that love would come knocking. She said I’d never expect it, but one day it’d be on my doorstep and I’d realize sooner or later that we make our own happily ever after’s.” Evan paused and Jonathan stared at their hands, his pale in comparison to Evan’s.

“Wise woman.” He murmured and Evan smiled faintly.

“Very. So when you showed up at my door I realized she was right about that one too.” Evan said and slipped the ring onto Jonathan’s finger. “This was my mother’s.” He explained and twisted it around Jonathan’s finger. “I want you to have it. You don’t have to wear it if it’s too feminine, but I’ve been saving it for someone.”

Jonathan pulled his hand away and inspected it, biting his bottom lip to keep from crying. “It’s perfect.” He insisted and Evan ran his fingers through Jonathan’s messy hair. Jonathan sniffed and got up, disappearing to the bathroom and Evan got as far as the door before he was back, wadded up toilet paper in his hand and damp cheeks. He glanced up and laughed, making Evan look up too.

“Fucking Nogla.” Evan muttered and Jonathan wrapped his arms around Evan’s neck, dragging him closer.

“You know the rules.” He said and Evan wound his arms around Jonathan’s middle, pulling him flush against him. He rested his forehead against Jonathan’s and their noses brushed. “What are you waiting for?” Jonathan asked and Evan smiled before he leaned the rest of the way in and pressed his lips to Jonathan’s. Evan tasted like cherries and blackberry wine.

“Merry Christmas.” Evan murmured against Jonathan’s lips and Jonathan smiled.

“Merry Christmas.”


	11. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> more backstory and some sexuals~

Jonathan hated Valentine’s Day, he always had, but the prospect of spending it with Evan made it seem a lot more appealing than any of the previous years. He’d received a text at eight o’clock in the morning that requested Jonathan’s company later that evening.

More or less.

_Dinner @ 8_

Jonathan had sent back his confirmation then rolled over and went back to sleep. Now, he paced his kitchen idly with damp hair and bare feet.

They’d been together for two months now, plenty long enough, but he was still wringing his fingers together nervously as he thought about where the night might lead. Of course he’d been expecting their relationship to take a more intimate turn, it was only natural, but Jonathan could distinctly remember the last time he’d been intimate with someone and he really didn’t want a repeat of _that._ It’d be Evan’s first time with a man, which was both comforting and not so much. They’d talked about it in passing whenever things got hot and heavy, but they’d both drawn lines where they were comfortable and slowly, they’d worked on pushing the boundaries. 

Jonathan reminded himself that it was simply dinner and if he didn’t want anything to happen then nothing would, but he was a full grown man with needs that would need to be addressed sooner rather than later and Evan was very capable of giving him what he wanted.

And he wanted. God, did he want, but he was already so wrapped up in Evan that if they took the next step, he was sure there’d be no coming back.

Jonathan’s phone vibrated in his pocket and he knew without having to check that it was Evan. He glanced toward the clock and smiled to himself; eight o’clock on the dot. He found a pair of socks then slipped his shoes on before grabbing the bottle of wine he’d bought from his fridge and made his way across the street. 

Evan ran a nervous hand through his styled hair once more before he called it good and returned to his kitchen. Jonathan would be here any minute now and he had to make sure everything was where it was supposed to be. The table was set and the mess he’d made was cleared. He had Jonathan’s favorite meal prepared along with his favorite pie and now he just needed Jonathan. Three quick knocks alerted his arrival and Evan nearly ran to open the door.

Jonathan smiled when Evan pulled the door open, hair looking neater than usual and the apron he’d gotten him for Christmas tied around his neck and middle. “Long time, no see.” Jonathan greeted sarcastically and hooked a finger in Evan’s apron. “Thought dinner was done? Should I come back later?” He asked with a smirk and Evan flushed as he pulled at the strings.

“No, no. It’s done. I just forgot, was preoccupied.” He explained and yanked the thing off. “Come in.” He stepped aside then followed Jonathan into the kitchen, throwing his apron into the laundry room on the way.

“Smells good.” Jonathan murmured before he set his wine down and turned toward Evan. “What’s the occasion?”

Evan rolled his eyes and pulled out a seat for Jonathan before sitting down across from him. “Ha, ha. I know you don’t like the holiday and I’ll admit that I think it’s just something blown out of proportion to rake in cash, but it’s still our first one together so I wanted to do something little for you. Don’t give me that look.” Evan said exasperatedly. 

“A card or some flowers would have been just fine.” Jonathan said as he stuck his fork into the pasta, “Though I’m not complaining because you’ve made my favorite.” He said and smiled to himself.

“You’re welcome.” Evan chuckled and opened the wine, pouring them both a glass.

“Thanks.” Jonathan mumbled around a mouthful as he took the glass from Evan. They ate in a comfortable silence for several minutes until Evan began to fidget. Jonathan watched him, waiting for whatever was on his mind to finally burst out of him.

Evan set his fork down and leaned forward, eyeing Jonathan, “Can I ask you something?”

Jonathan smiled and swallowed then took a sip of wine before nodding, “Figure you’re gonna ask either way, right?”

Evan shrugged, “I’ve never known how to go about asking this, but it’s been on my mind constantly since we started hanging out. You have trust issues, I know that much. You refuse to get close to people, or let anyone in. Why is that? What happened that made you so wary of people?” Evan asked, tone soft as he searched Jonathan’s eyes.

It was a reasonable question, one Jonathan figured he needed to answer, especially since it was Evan of all people asking. He cleared his throat and sat back in his chair as he dragged his finger around the rim of his glass. He avoided Evan’s eyes and dug up the past he fought so hard to keep buried. “Remember when I told you my mom died? I was pretty young, sixteen at the time and even younger still when we first found out. We had our issues like any family does, but after the diagnosis, we just started falling apart. They’d said chemo would help, chemo would make her better… that was my dad’s mantra and when it didn’t help, when it started taking her hair and her will to live, well that wasn’t my mom anymore and my dad knew it. He stopped coming to appointments and when she was moved to a permanent hospital room, he stopped coming home all together. He refused to return my calls, my sister’s calls, my mother’s calls and that was the hardest thing to watch. He left her when she needed him most and Alissa and I were left to take care of her the best a sixteen and an eighteen year old could. I’d never been very close to either of my parents, but I loved my mom. Alissa, on the other hand, that was her best friend. Her and my mom were close as close gets and it broke her when she finally passed. Now here I was at sixteen years old with no mother, no father, and a zombie for a sister. The last time either one of us saw our dad was at her funeral and he didn’t say two words to us before he left. Alissa lost it and so began her war with alcohol and drugs. Luke was the only one who kept me sane until ‘Lis had Rae. Kids dad didn’t stick around and ‘Lis was still on and off the drugs, got into heroin just a few months after Rae was born so I was a fulltime babysitter while my sister got high and stopped dealing with life.”

Jonathan took a shaky breath and ran a hand through his hair before he glanced up at Evan, “Moral of the story: everyone fucking leaves and if they don’t leave, you can’t hardly count on them when you need them most. I stopped trying to get close to people because I couldn’t handle losing another person and I’ve got this thing where whenever someone shows me the slightest bit of affection, I’m instantly taken by them. So, you being you, showing up at my door with my favorite pie and those big brown eyes, well I knew I was fucked right then.” 

Evan pushed his half empty plate away and reached across the table to take Jonathan’s hand, “The people who left weren’t people you needed in your life to begin with. Fuck your dad for being a piece of shit and fuck anyone else who ever hurt you. I knew, probably the day you scared me off your porch, that I needed to know you, needed to make you mine because I always want what I can’t have. That’s my problem, but now I’ve got you and you can bet your sweet ass I’m never letting you get away.” Evan said and grinned crookedly at Jonathan who just shook his head and pushed his food around his plate with his fork.

“Guess I’m lucky you’re so stubborn, huh?” Jonathan mused and Evan nodded as he got up and took their plates. Jonathan followed him and wrapped his arms loosely around Evan’s waist, resting his chin on his shoulder. “Thank you for dinner, even if I didn’t eat very much of it.” Evan turned in his arms and pulled him closer as he leaned against the counter. 

“Welcome. Glad today could be somewhat special. Thank you for telling me, well, everything. I didn’t mean to pull it out of you. Guess I didn’t think it’d be so fuckin’ serious, y’know?” Evan mumbled and slid his hands up Jonathan’s back.

“We all have pasts.” Jonathan reminded and pressed his lips to Evan’s neck, “I’m glad I told you. Feels like I got a thousand pounds off my chest.”

“Good.” Evan murmured and closed his eyes as he leaned into Jonathan’s touch. “I’ve got one more thing for you.”

Jonathan groaned and let his arms drop from around Evan’s waist, “Dinner wasn’t enough of a stereotypical romantic gesture?” 

“Nope.” Evan laughed and took Jonathan’s hand, pulling him toward his bedroom. 

“Oh, I see where this is going.” Jonathan giggled and Evan flushed, shaking his head as he let him go and stepped into his closet. 

“Shut up. It’s not going anywhere.” He muttered and grabbed the card along with the rose he’d bought. Jonathan hummed and smiled stupidly as he took the offered gifts.

“See, now you’re over doin’ it.” 

Evan shrugged and sat on the edge of his bed, “Go big or go home, right? Would you have preferred a giant teddy bear?” 

Jonathan looked at him and a grin split his face, “Fuck yes. Please tell me you got me one of those.”

Evan frowned, “I didn’t, but at least I know what to do next year. Or maybe even for your birthday.” He hinted and Jonathan laughed as he opened the card.

“This is just fine. Thank you.” Jonathan said and fingered the card as he brought the rose to his nose. 

“So, what’d you get me then?” Evan asked expectantly and Jonathan flushed.

“I, uh, well,”

“You didn’t get me anything.” Evan assumed and Jonathan shrugged.

“Not really, no, but I had something in mind.” 

“Do tell.” Evan encouraged. He hadn’t really expected Jonathan to get him anything at all, he just enjoyed teasing him. 

Jonathan cleared his throat and shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot, “I was thinking maybe we could, we could…” 

“You can say the words, Jonathan. We’re adults. You want to have sex?” Evan asked and watched as the tips of Jonathan’s ears turned red. 

“I was going to say fuck.” He admitted and Evan laughed.

“Whatever term you’d like to use, feel free. Plain and simple: your gift to me is you. That right?” Evan stood and crossed the room to take the card and rose from Jonathan’s shaking hands.

“Y-yes.”

“You’re absolutely sure?” Evan checked and Jonathan nodded.

“Positive.”

Evan kissed him then, setting the card and rose down blindly before he cupped Jonathan’s jaw and pulled him close. The kiss was everything at once, hot and sweet and slow and exactly how Evan liked it. He knew already how to make Jonathan melt with the simplest touches and he took pleasure in that fact alone. Jonathan’s fingers were balled into fists in Evan’s shirt as he kissed back with everything he had, which wasn’t much, but it was enough. 

“We don’t have to do this.” Evan murmured against Jonathan’s lips.

“I want to.” Jonathan insisted and slid his hands under Evan’s shirt, “I want to, I’ve wanted to, I’ve just been so scared of giving everything I have to you because if you leave me I don’t know what the fuck I’m going to do. This right here is my happily ever after, the one ‘Lissa and I always talked about, dreamed about. You’re everything I’ve ever wanted, Evan.” 

“That’s all I needed to hear.” Evan breathed and kissed him again as he walked them back toward his bed. Jonathan fell when the backs of his knees hit the bed and he pulled Evan down with him. Evan fit himself between Jonathan’s legs and their kisses grew frantic, hands shaking against the buttons of jeans as they both tried to get as close to each other as possible. “Fuck these skinny jeans, why the hell do you wear them?” Evan grumbled as he yanked Jonathan’s jeans from around his heel and threw them. 

“I look good in them, shut the fuck up.” Jonathan argued and secured his legs around Evan’s waist when Evan finally got out of his own jeans. Jonathan pulled his t-shirt off and threw it behind him while Evan did the same, hardly hesitating before his hands were exploring the expanse of fair skin beneath him. 

“I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing.” Evan reminded as he placed open mouthed kisses against Jonathan’s collarbone. 

“It’s fine, it’s fine.” Jonathan assured and reached between them to brush his fingers over the bulge in Evan’s briefs. “Just keep doing what you’re doing.” 

Evan took a shaky breath and kissed Jonathan again, tongue delving into his hot mouth while he hooked his fingers in the waistband of Jonathan’s briefs and dragged them down his thighs. His socks followed and Jonathan laughed breathlessly at him when Evan stood to step out of his own underwear, tugging his socks off as an afterthought. “What’s funny?” He asked as he crawled back between Jonathan’s legs.

“You. You’re so nervous and what for?” 

“What for? The fact that I’ve never done this and I’m not keen on hurting you.” Evan said, his gaze wandering down Jonathan’s slim body. “God, you’re beautiful.”

Jonathan hummed and spread his legs further, “Where do you keep your lube?” Evan flushed and moved to pull the drawer of his nightstand open before handing the bottle over to Jonathan. “Fingers.” Jonathan motioned for Evan’s hand and Evan held it out for him. “One at a time, go slow… It’s been a while.” Evan nodded and let Jonathan guide his hand down till he was pressing one finger into him, marveling at how tight he was. 

“This is not going to last.” He mumbled and Jonathan laughed.

“It doesn’t need to, that’s the point.” He reminded and Evan shook his head as he wiggled his finger around. Jonathan squirmed and wrapped his fingers around himself as Evan stretched him till he had three fingers moving steadily in and out. “Okay, alright. I’m ready.”

“You’re sure?” Evan asked, voice strained and Jonathan nodded.

“Fuckin’ more than ready.” Jonathan muttered and Evan huffed a laugh as he removed his fingers and settled back on his heels between Jonathan’s legs. He guided himself in and Jonathan held his breath until Evan was hovering over him, buried completely inside of him and trembling. “Move.” He encouraged and Evan rolled his hips, testing the feeling before pulling out and pushing back in. 

“Jesus.” He groaned and Jonathan wrapped his legs around his waist. 

“You fit me so good.” Jonathan murmured and Evan pulled him upright into his lap. 

“You’re so fucking tight.” Evan breathed and Jonathan smiled faintly as he ran his fingers through Evan’s hair. 

“I love you.”

Evan’s movements stuttered and he gripped Jonathan’s hips a little tighter as he breathed shallowly, “You do?”

“I do. I’ve loved you since you stood in my kitchen with blue paint covering your hands, since you stained your feet red for me.” Jonathan admitted and Evan dropped his head to Jonathan’s shoulder, lifting him slowly before pulling him back down. 

“I love you.” He promised and kissed along his shoulder, along his neck. “So much, god Jonathan.” Evan said, voice shaking as Jonathan lifted himself and fell back down, setting a desperate pace until they were both falling apart in each other’s arms. Jonathan sagged limply against Evan, head falling to his shoulder where he caught his breath. Evan held him loosely, running his fingers up and down his sweaty back idly as they both settled down. “Happy Valentine’s Day.” Evan mumbled and Jonathan snorted.

“Fuck Valentine’s Day.” 

“Literally.”

“There’s still pie.” Jonathan remembered and Evan stifled a yawn.

“There is, but I think it can wait.” 

Jonathan chuckled, “One and done, huh?”

“Shut up. You wanna go again?” Evan asked incredulously and Jonathan shrugged.

“Sure, once I’ve had some pie.” 

Evan groaned and ran his fingers through Jonathan’s damp hair, “What have I gotten myself into with you?”

“I warned you way back when.” Jonathan reminded and Evan hummed in thought.

“You did. Good thing I had an unlimited amount of pie at my disposal, how else would I have won you over?”

“Wine would have done the trick. I think you’re stubborn personality would have worked eventually, but you softened me with pie and wine, for that I was no match.” Jonathan admitted and moved off Evan’s lap, stretching as he stood on weak legs. 

“Right back where we started then. It’s cherry pie, dunno if you wanted something else.” Evan winked and Jonathan grinned as he grabbed Evan’s shirt from the floor and pulled it over his head.

“No, I like cherry just fine.”


End file.
